An Armed Truce
by sailordarke
Summary: For Hiei's Cute Girl. An ItaSaku story. To rescue what should never have been stolen in the first place, Sakura would travel to the ends of the earth. No one would be able to stop her. No one ever could.
1. Sakura: Storm and Illusion

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

Note: Dedicated, of course, to _Hiei's Cute Girl_, as promised. Because she wanted an ItaSaku. I'm apologizing in advance just in case it turns into something else by accident. (What? It happens!)

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Prologue: Storm and Illusion.

The border between the Earth and Fire countries was clear to any with eyes. The border of Fire Country where the trees grew largest, tall and thick; an impregnable fortress that was home to the ninja who guarded it. The border of Earth Country, where the trees broke away, the sharp rocks shooting up from the ground, growing into a fierce mountainside, patrolled by their own ninja.

And between, a barren stretch of land that grew neither grass nor stone. You had to be fast, agile and extremely lucky to cross without being seen and confronted. The consequence for failing was often deadly.

The war between Earth and Fire country had been over for years.

It was an armed truce at best.

"Is the room to your taste? Sakura-san?"

Slowly, she turned away from the window looking out on No Man's Land, closing the narrow wooden case she'd brought along with a faint metallic _snap_.

"It's perfect, Ruriko-san," she said with a warm smile. She put the case into the desk drawer, locked it and pocketed the key. "I wasn't aware that our Border contingency had such grand quarters."

"It's not ours," the aide corrected nervously. "It's neutral territory. Your father's idea. Haruno-sama thought that it might be a good idea to have--"

"--A place to argue for prisoners," one eyebrow rose. "I'm well aware of the plan."

"Yes," the aide bobbed fiercely. "I forgot. You're Haruno-sama's daughter. It's just that you're so--"

"Young?" Sakura smiled, leaned against polished wood. "I hear that all the time. It comes in handy sometimes. If you've met my father, you'll see that it runs in the family."

"I haven't met him, no," beady eyes flicked to the bag still laying on the bed, away, and then back. She took several hurried steps for it. "The maids haven't put your things away? I'll just..."

In three steps, Sakura had her by the wrist. "I prefer to do my unpacking on my own. I'm sure you understand."

Sweat beaded on the girl's brow, and when Sakura released her wrist she quickly brought it to her other hand, massaging bruised flesh. "I--yes. I understand. I just thought..."

"That's fine," she smiled again. "Was there anything that you wanted?"

"Suzuki Masasugi-sama requested your presence, Sakura-san. The Earth Country representative Tokiwa is also there. Suzuki-sama said, if you have the time..."

For a long moment, she said nothing, merely looked at the girl. Then she straightened. "It appears that I've chosen the right time to arrive. I also have something to say to them. And it's not right for the Earth and Fire Country representatives to wait for a mere Chuunin."

The aide bowed quickly, and held open the door so that Sakura could leave before leading her down the long corridor.

It was empty, of course. This was a meeting place, and, in the middle of that No Man's Land, far too open to attack. The bedrooms the building was equipped with were for guests, all right, but only on a temporary basis. The more permanent rooms were underground, and reserved for refugees from either side of the line.

Dealing with refugees was dangerous, which was why neither country let them into their land. But sometimes the border guard couldn't stomach executing children.

"They're in here," Ruriko said quietly, coming to stop by a set of double doors with extravagant molding and inlay.

Her father's idea, Sakura knew. He was an expert at setting the scene, and this was definitely set as an _Important Room_. There were probably several other, _similar_ doors scattered around, to act against assassinations.

Similar, but not exact. Oh no, _that _would be an insult. She almost smiled, almost able to hear her father lecturing. He always lectured.

Smoothly, she opened one door, noting out of the corner of her eye the two large men in the center of the room. One brown from the sun, long brown hair spilling out over his shoulders. The other more pale, but muscular; having the build of an active lifestyle.

The first was Suzuki, she decided. His clothes were built for battle. The other dressed like a pat on the head, in mock official style--which was to be expected. No Earth Country official ever came to the borders voluntarily. It was, she was too aware, a joke to them. In their mind, they could destroy it any time they wanted to.

That was how the people kept their morale.

"Were you waiting long?" She asked politely, sliding into her professional mask, stepping toward the empty chair at the foot of the table. A deliberate move. Suzuki and Tokiwa had both chose to keep to the head of the table--both for the prestige, and to keep anyone from their backs.

Sakura chose the chair closest to the door.

"Who are _you_?" The Earth Country official demanded suspiciously.

"Haruno Sakura, at your service. I'm here to represent Konoha in this meeting. I assume that you were informed."

Color splashed across his face. "_You_? A child? Is this a _joke_?"

Her eyes narrowed fractionally, but the smile didn't falter. "The Haruno family have been responsible for this border house since the truce. My family has been a member of every council concerning said truce. As my father is indisposed at this time, the responsibility for this task fell to me. And of course I have a vested interest."

Suzuki straightened in his chair, and waved off the two children standing beside him.

_Ahn_, not children. They were at least her age. As they left, both aimed her a green-eyed glance, the girl's filled with resentment.

Strange, for a Suzuki, but unimportant.

"Your children?" She asked curiously, a vague smile on her face.

"My daughter," he answered, one eye on the door. "And nephew."

The cousins closed the door discreetly behind them, and then they were alone.

"An interest, you said," he prompted, steepling his fingers.

"We'll get to that. Distractions are for after the work is done."

That made him smile fondly. "You do sound like your father."

"I sound like my teacher," she corrected primly, and folded her hands. "So what was the first order of business?"

"There have been refugees," Suzuki said after the slightest moment. "More so than usual for this time of year. Flood season."

Both eyebrows rose. "Intelligent _and_ reckless." The refugees would get through the line easier if the patrol was distracted with safety measures. Of course, they could also be swept away themselves. Since it seemed she interrupted, she waved a hand. "How many are we talking about here?"

"Thirty-seven. And all fleeing through Earth Country."

She waited a moment, sensing there was more, but when nothing was said spoke again. "How many survivors?"

"Four. Only one person of note. A minor lord somewhere," that was waved off. But the man's clear green eyes were on her. "Only thirteen were from Earth Country. Eighteen were shinobi."

Her head shot up and her eyes actually widened before she controlled herself. "Really," she looked toward the other official questioningly. "How curious. Do you have any explanation for so many foreigners in your country, Tokiwa-san? It's not your turn for the Chuunin exams, is it?"

She may as well have questioned his manhood. A dark flush covered his face, and he glowered at her. "I'm afraid not. You can be sure that we are looking into the matter currently. It has top priority."

She smiled. "Then I'm sure we can leave that matter in your capable hands. You'll keep us informed of the progress, of course." She overrode him before he could protest. "As it was our people who paid for this oversight."

He nodded stiffly.

"Do we still have the bodies?" She asked, turning back to Suzuki.

"We do. Ruriko can show you where they're located whenever you like. You have only to ask. Your family always has full access."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." There was a moment of silence as she examined her hands. "If you're interested, Tokiwa-san, there have been some whisperings."

"Where your 'interest' comes from, I assume?" The tone was snide.

"Mmm. Correct."

"Then please tell us, Haruno-sama."

She dismissed the mockery without a twitch. "Akatsuki."

He snorted. "You Leaf nin would blame a hangnail on Akatsuki. If that is the extent of your help, allow me to pay for your services." He flicked a coin at her in a practiced move that had her smiling in pure admiration.

"I'm going to have to remember that one," she said, sounding cheerful enough that Suzuki actually looked at her in pure surprise, an instant before he'd have blasted the man. Easy, she reached out and picked the coin off of the table, held it up to her face. "It was very effective. And you have yet to see the full extent of my services. I'll accept this as a faith payment. We'll settle when the job's done."

"Sakura-san, this is highly unorthodox," Suzuki started to protest.

She merely smiled. "Yes, but my family would skin me if I don't see how very deep Tokiwa-san's pockets are. I may as well get paid for doing something I would do anyway. And employment prevents many questions, and opens even more doors." A small, wicked pause. "I have the papers in my room. They merely wait for your signature."

Tokiwa actually laughed. "It seems that I've played right into your hands, Sakura-san."

"Is there any other way to play?" She slid out of her chair. "If you'd care for a demonstration before your signature, I'm headed toward the cell now." She turned away with a slight inclination that might pass for a bow and opened the door, where the aide was waiting just outside.

"There you are," she said. "Good. I'd like to see the prisoners, if you please."

She looked surprised. "Those people? Why would you..."

"Want to see them? Because that's what we do." She smiled. "Don't worry, Ruriko-san; it's hardly the first time a medic nin had to oversee prisoners."

"Medic nin?" Suzuki repeated, exiting the room behind her.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "That's right. Weren't you informed?"

"Chuunin exam," Tokiwa said quietly in shell-shocked tones. "Two years ago in Earth Country. You fought the Hyuuga boy. Almost killed him."

"He almost killed me right back," she said, and just the memory made her warm. Just like she'd wanted; he hadn't held back. The match had come up a draw, of course; both of them coughing up blood. But they'd both made Chuunin.

Of course, due to circumstances, no one had won _that _tournament, either.

"He's Jounin now," she told him. "I understand he's doing good work there, if you'd like to contract him for anything."

"I contracted you shortly after the match," the Earth Country official continued to reminisce. "Unless I'm mistaken, you did some work for me then, too. An escort mission."

"Then I know your money is good. People who deal in broken promises are seldom repeat customers."

Tokiwa continued to smile. Probably, she had to admit, because now he thought he had her. People driven by money could always be bought by a higher bid, but they tended to be honest--in everything but price.

There'd be no point in proving him wrong.

Either of them.

"Is this it?" She asked when the aide stopped outside a door downstairs.

"It is," she said, and slid open the door.

Three children and a minor lord, barely any older, she mused. All four bruised and bloody, covered in mud and filth. But only three were actually in chains.

The genjutsu had all the power of a mosquito, but by the time the officials recovered, Sakura already had a kunai in the kid's throat, shattering any residual effects. Red-rimmed green eyes were wide in shock, and he didn't move.

Rumiko hovered nearby, looking shaken. "Is he...?"

"Alive. For now." She turned to glare at Suzuki, who stood embarrassed at the lapse. "Why weren't they watched?"

He straightened quickly. "They were. The guard seems to have disappeared. I'll get to the bottom of it."

"You move fast," Tokiwa said in admiration. "Did he even get you with that genjutsu?"

"The day I'm caught in a low-level Academy genjutsu is the day I die," she said, and had the pleasure of watching him flush at the insult. She glanced at the other hostages quickly, sensing movement, but it was only Ruriko. "If any of you feel like doing something stupid, I'll kill you," she warned coldly, and moved her hand to the kunai in the boy's neck.

"He can't survive this," the aide murmured nervously, kneeling close to her. "If he dies..."

"If he dies, we give his body to his family," Sakura said impatiently. "Or we burn it. But he's not going to, because I'm the best." With one hand on the kunai and the other on the neck, her hand glowing green, slowly, steadily, the bright red arterial blood stopped flowing.

Of course, there was still blood loss, and he could have gone into shock, but he was still breathing. For the moment. And she'd left his vocal cords intact.

"If you have to tie someone up in the future," she told Suzuki coolly, "you separate their fingers too. Ninja can untie knots. And picking locks isn't that difficult. Right, Blondie?"

The boy's companion had undone his own restraints, but had ended up dropping the chain. Extra noise in suspicious circumstances.

She ran a finger down his chin. "Aren't you a bit young for the Academy, kid?"

He snapped at her fingers and put on a mutinous expression. "Who cares about the stupid ninja academy, anyway?"

"People who don't want to be dirt poor their entire life." But her eyebrows rose. "You're older than you look, too, aren't you? Who'd have thought. Gentlemen, it looks like we have a rookie team on our hands here. I want all four of them searched again, and then resecured correctly. And then I want to see the bodies."

Of course, it wouldn't do for them to surprise the guards and escape...

* * *

After several years of studying, training and experience, for Sakura, there was only one certainty: that everything would go the way she expected it to. Failing that, at least, was unacceptable. So there really was no surprise at the collection of bodies. 

Slowly, she knelt beside one of those wearing a forehead protector, reached out to catch the man's chin. Not bad looking, which was a little surprising. He flesh was firm and full, rather than haggard, and he seemed to live an active lifestyle out of doors.

More surprising was that, aside from the mud on him, that may have well come from the floor, he was mostly clean. His injuries were all minor, barely drawing blood, except for what she had to assume was the killing blow--what appeared to be a hole that cut through the ribs, and into the heart.

The other bodies were equally clean, equally injured.

"Is this common?" She asked quietly, checking the killing wound. The skin was cold; the blood was still. There was no heartbeat. The body _was_ dead. Cautiously, she sniffed the blood. "Killing this many with only this much struggle?"

"It was strange," Suzuki admitted, scratching his head. "Being off-season and all. Seemed like they wanted to die."

"Probably because they were already dead when they got here. This is oil." She lifted the body's shirt up, revealing a large hole in his chest, right over the heart. Uncannily like a certain Akatsuki member's living puppets, for all that Sasori was dead now. Which she knew firsthand, on account of having been there at the time. "I'll have to check the others to be sure, but it seems like we have a puppet master on the loose."

And more than a dozen possible suspects.

"Puppets, you say?" Tokiwa queried, fiddling his fingers. "What do you suppose that means? Akatsuki?"

"It's in their style," she admitted. "Unfortunately, Akatsuki's puppet master has already been killed. So it could mean anything. Scavengers, copycats, old students." She rocked up to her feet again, and almost turned around before she thought of something. "Why didn't anyone ask about the lack of blood?"

Suzuki shrugged. "There's a farm nearby in Earth Country. Grows this plant that thickens the blood. It's the only food source between here and the nearest village. You eat the stuff and you can cut off an arm, and it'll barely bleed."

Her eyebrows rose. "Convenient." So the puppet master--or whoever hired him--had to be familiar with the area. And from all of these forehead protectors, either did a lot of travel, or had several outstanding warrants.

Until she had more information that that, however, there was nothing she could do except wait them out. And stir up as many nests as she could.

"Who made the kills?" She asked, wiping the fake blood from her fingers. "I'd like to speak with them."

"You've met them," Suzuki said. "My daughter and nephew, Suzuki Matsu and Kuriko."

"Really," she said, remembering that nasty glare the girl had given her. "How very convenient."

He stiffened. "What does that mean? You can't think that they had anything to do with this."

"Do either of them use puppets?"

For a second she thought he wasn't going to tell her. But then he sighed. "Kuriko."

She nodded. That was just as she'd thought. "That's rare for one of the Suzuki clan, isn't it?" According to her father, they were mostly close-range fighters.

"My daughter has nothing to do with this," he said quietly.

She touched his arm. "It's very hard for a parent to think otherwise," she said, and turned away. "Why don't we take a short break and have lunch? You can put things into perspective, and Tokiwa-san can sign our contract."

"You have yet to do anything worth hiring," he pointed out, following her.

"Which means you can argue about price, guilt-free," she tossed a wink over her shoulder. "I'll meet you in fifteen minutes. Ruriko-san can escort me."

"Do you really think Masasugi-sama's _daughter_ did it?" The aide asked the instant the two men were out of sight. And looked askance when Sakura started straight toward the holding cell. "Where are we going? Your rooms are that way."

"I don't need fifteen minutes to get a piece of paper out of my pack," she said crisply. "I wanted a minute alone with the prisoners."

The girl blinked. "What for?"

"How many puppet masters do you know of that can use thirty-three puppets at one time?" She asked. "There's actually very few. One of the best I've heard of could only use ten--one for every finger. Akatsuki's Sasori used one hundred, but he's dead now." She was near the door now, but waited, giving the girl a narrow look. "Either way, we're dealing with more than one puppeteer. And likely we're missing some puppets."

What she didn't say aloud was that, should any of those prisoners be one of the puppeteers, binding their fingers was unlikely to do much.

_Should have drugged them_, she thought irritably, _but the mixture takes too long to prepare._

"Why isn't anyone outside?" She wondered aloud, lightening her steps, putting her chakra on a slow boil. She put herself between the aide and the door, slowly cracked open the door. And there were two of the guards, one holding the key ring, the other just standing there. Not one of the prisoners were chained.

They didn't notice her yet. She straightened, prepared to just wander amiably inside, but someone shouted and their heads all shot up. And ended up looking right at her.

_Damn it_.

Her hand shot up, her own kunai parrying the one thrown. The larger guard shot through the door, tackled her with all the strength of a battering ram, but she'd gotten her knee up in time, filled with chakra. He was knocked back into the door; she fell back against the wall.

"Get out of here!" She yelled at the aide, straightening just in time for the second attack. The second guard shot over the head of the first, the keys jingling in his belt, his hands extended like claws, oil dripping from them. She sidestepped just in time, flung one chakra-filled arm out to give him more speed; sent him through the wall.

Enough noise to get everybody's attention.

The bastard had been wearing something on his back. She'd broken her damn arm, blood and more oil dripping down it from the hole stabbed below her elbow.

Knowing her luck, poison.

There was no time to burn it out of her system, or to fix her arm. She moved just in time to dodge the gorilla again, and walked into a blade-swinging puppet for her trouble.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Suzuki Kuriko screamed, chakra strings blazing on her fingers. "You bastard!"

So she'd been the one who shouted, Sakura thought, blocking the first swing with her boot, which only put her back into the second guard's slash. His fingers were like knives, and cut through her like paper, scoring across her ribs. More oil.

She caught his wrist, turning, swung him like a mace. And, reaching for her pack, threw a quick smokeball as the hallway was filled with more guards, including Suzuki and Tokiwa.

Dropping to the floor, she damped down her chakra, pushed up against the wall inches from the two guards' feet. Her body was on fire, and her vision was starting to get hazy, but pure stubbornness kept her from moving as with a sharp _snikt-snikt-snikt_ the floor grew a layer of kunai. Slowly, her hand found the hole in the wall, and she pushed herself through, wincing silently at the pressure placed on her broken arm.

And wound up looking up into the cold green eyes of Suzuki Matsu.

"She's out here!" He called, a frosty smile on his face.

She moved, barely able to dodge the katana he swung, and only by a fraction of an inch. She planted one hand under her, thrust upward, landed a kick into his chest that knocked him back a few steps, and, channeling chakra into the bottoms of her feet, exploded off of the ground. Just in time to dodge his cousin's puppet as it came out at her from the rooftop.

"If you waste all of your time on me, the prisoners are going to escape," she warned slowly, dodging, inch by inch, the swinging blades. "Your guards released them."

"Liar," he said, voice smooth and unruffled. "Our men are loyal."

"Your men have been turned into _puppets_," she corrected, and spat black liquid into his eyes. "They bleed_oil_."

He stumbled back, wiping it out of his eyes. And while he was distracted, she kicked him solidly upside the head, letting him crumple to the ground. Her good hand pressed an explosive tag to the puppet, and lit it as she ran, leaped onto the roof to slide across the top of it, and kicked a hole into the wall on the other side.

Just in time to see the thirty-three bodies come to life.

Her hand pressed against the hole in her arm, healing it as quickly as she could despite her swimming head. Breath flowed in and out of her lungs, a kind of meditation, not even interrupted at the sound of an explosion and wooden pieces raining down.

"I'll be damned," a whispered voice said at her back. "You were telling the truth."

All four prisoners were standing in the room, clearly unchained, both guards at their sides.

The young-looking ninja smiled at her. "Actually," he said, and his voice deepened, "she was only half-right."

The other ninja also smirked as they all aged visibly. "We aren't rookies."

Her eyebrows rose. All of them--including the so-called minor lord--all had a face in the bingo book. She smiled at the one she'd stabbed in the neck earlier. "Takaishi," she said welcomingly. "Hello again, old friend. If I'd known that was you I wouldn't have aimed to wound."

His smile was glacial. "How do you like my poison, Sakura-chan? I made it just for you." His voice was scratchy; she had, after all, scratched his vocal cords.

"Aww, and I didn't even bring you anything."

"That's perfectly fine," he said, and his fingers lifted. "Just die and we'll call it even."

Sakura reached back, caught Kuriko's shoulder, and shoved her out of the way.

"Stay back," she said, "his puppets are filled with hallucinatory gases. Blondie likes explosions. The other two are straight poison and bone-breaking power."

"You're familiar with them," the girl noticed, picking herself off the ground. "Why?"

She bared her teeth. "Because they're the world's worst assassins in history," one hand reached into her pocket, withdrew the key and threw it at her. "Go get my case out of the desk in my chambers. There's something in there that might even the odds. I'll keep these guys distracted until you get back."

"You can't fight them by yourself," she protested.

"I don't remember asking your opinion. Get lost. And tell your friends to stay off my back while I handle things here."

Frustration and annoyance marked the girl's face, but she nodded and ran. Sakura caught a kunai, pinned one of the puppets to the wall before it could move more than an inch.

Cheekily, she wagged one finger. "Sorry boys, but your quarrel's with me. Leave the chicklet alone. At thirty-three to one, you'll be finished before dinner."

"As you wish," Takaishi said, that frozen smile on his face. "This time, I won't hold back."

Several puppets shot out of the cell, all aimed in a circle around her. She slid a foot back, planted a foot, thrust forward between them and stumbled, the mud catching her foot. Chakra built in her hand, helped her roll, pushed her between them. That put her back to the others--a dangerous step, but a necessary one.

The ground was too damp. Unlike the time she'd 'met' Takaishi, there was no chance that she could punch up a layer of dust to combat the gases. So she'd have to improvise.

She pulled an explosive tag out of her pouch.

And watched all thirty-three puppets change shape. Arms grew longer, swung like a mace, necks grew up, back. Legs split into thirds, quarters. Spikes shot out from virtually every direction. Some mouths opened, long and wide, to reveal a muzzle that could probably shoot anything.

She lay the tag down, stood over it, and started throwing kunai again. She wasn't going to have enough. She never did. But the several puppets she'd hit managed to stay pinned for an entire eighth of a second before they followed the rest. Perfect.

One foot turned, slid, and she placed her back to the oncoming puppet, reached behind her to snap out the kunai that impaled it. Oil spilled in a slow drip, blackening the ground. She threw the kunai at another puppet, and reaching out yet again for another kunai, dragged another puppet towards her to place between herself and the larger of the two guard puppets. Too slow to dodge away, almost found herself impaled when the puppet between them grew a thin band of spikes.

She caught the shoulder, yanked herself up onto the larger one's shoulder, and put herself out of the way of six spinning swords. Her hand fisted, chakra burned, and she punched a hole into the puppet's back. Her hand burned.

Of course he'd been boobytrapped. Every one of these people knew her name, her abilities.

Her personality.

So she planted her feet on the ground, lept, spun, and took off the puppet's head. Oil and acid scattered across the ground. She wiped her fingers in the burning liquid and looked at the puppet masters, who had all long since covered their faces to keep away the hallucinatory effects of the gas. Her smile turned feral. Shikamaru wasn't the only one who used pain for clarity and control.

Chakra pooled in her feet, kept her from sinking into mud as she ran for them, dodging here and there between puppets, knocking holes in them, until, inches from the puppeteers, slid one of the puppets that shot fire from its mouth. She hesitated a second too long, and found herself surrounded by puppets, three of the blade-spinning ones flowing down to attack her at once. She flipped away, saved by mere inches, and was a prisoner of gravity long enough for one to score against her, blade shooting her up higher into the air.

There was no Chiyo to save her here, no strings burned into her human skin that would keep her an inch from danger at all times. There was no one to watch her back.

Here, for a bloody, pain-filled second, she wondered why she preferred it that way.

She couldn't stay here. This high, the gases would affect her better. This much longer, she'd be dead. She couldn't do everything she wanted to dead. She couldn't protect, she couldn't preserve, and she couldn't rescue what damn sure never should have been stolen in the first place.

_Leap of faith_.

Her hand shot out and caught one of the blades, dragged it around her. Dangerous; not the kind of weapon for swinging. No choice. It parried every attacking puppet, and she only had to suffer through the gas that came out of its pipes. Provided she was breathing right now.

The bright thing about puppets was that they were virtually solid no matter how high they were. She pushed herself up onto its shoulders, kicked the thing's head off to give her more room, and to keep its head from rolling up and shooting her, and spun around, breaking pieces off of the other puppets that swarmed too close. Until the thing fell, appropriately enough, like a doll.

Nothing to slow her down, put between her and the spinning blades of death. Her broken arm was still too weak to use a swapping jutsu. The choices here were to land on her feet, risk breaking them and end up too stunned to dodge the blade that would surely go through her heart, or not to turn at all and die instantly.

Of course, there was also option C: grab onto the falling puppet, put it between her and impact, and scream like hell--knowing that there was no chance they'd impale the puppet just in case the gases turned it into a bomb. And here--it was time to put her plan into action.

She broke off one of the blades on the puppet that had saved her, and ran back toward the puppeteers, waving it like a challenge. One of the fire-spitting puppets placed itself between her and them, and spat at her. She twisted, arm threw the blade into the thing's midsection, and smiled as oil and accelerant. spilled onto the ground. The fire caught it, sped away, aimed with deadly precision toward the other puppets, lighting them up as it caught onto their human clothes and flammable bodies. All that hadn't caught already fled into the air, the majority massed in one place.

Smiling like hell, Sakura raised one hand, and the explosive tag she'd placed earlier lit.

And seconds later, the operating number of them had been quartered. Flying dirt kept her hidden, but loud voices and screaming--had she caught one in the fire?--gave away her opponents' direction. There was also a steady humming, the sound of one of Takaishi's blade puppets spinning away the dirt, protecting him so that she couldn't sneak up on him.

She knelt low to the ground, using the time she'd scavenged to heal the worst of her injuries. Several, she noticed now, had not only gone deep but had come almost fatally close to her spine. Paraplegia was not generally something that increased a ninja's life expectancy. Especially not when you happened to be as popular as she was.

"How's your thumb, Takaishi?" She asked quietly, tone mocking. She didn't have to see to know the dark look that flashed across his too-pretty face at the reminder of their first bout. The one where she'd broken virtually every finger in his left hand--his dominant. Their next match had proved that he'd recovered mostly, but his thumb would always be useless to him. He still screamed when you so much as touched it.

He didn't answer, of course. To return banter would lower him. But she knew, just by listening, that he'd sent out his puppet--which meant that there was no blade-wielder between her and him. She moved swiftly through the mist, and threw--one, two, three--and heard another scream.

The hum of the bladed puppet grew stronger, the dirt curtain grew thinner; she was only going to have one chance. She pulled another explosive tag from her pack and dropped it to her stomach--out of sight, and just below the spinning blades. She stuck the tag onto the leg and made a whimpered sound, quickly muffled, as though she tried to stifle even that much sound.

"Bastard," she said weakly, choking on spit, her voice choked with pain. She tossed a clump of mud away from the puppeteers, and was lucky enough that it sounded like a sick stumble away. Predictably, the puppet was sent after her, but she didn't get off of her stomach for a long time, simply pushed herself along with her toes, moving like an inchworm.

The hum started to get louder. Takaishi had realized how vulnerable he was and had given up on an imagined kill to defend against a definite death. So he wasn't quite as stupid as he looked. But the puppet was still too far away. One foot planted itself beneath her now, filled with chakra, and launched her up. For the second time that day, she drove a kunai into his throat.

The reaction was immediate: the puppet he'd been using fell lifeless to the ground. She lay her mouth against his ear.

"If you move," she said, "you'll die. See the bright red blood? Arterial blood. Anyone but a medic-nin takes that out and you'll be dead in ten seconds. You do anything stupid, and I'll just let you bleed to death."

The funny thing about Takaishi was that he was terrified of dying. Overly vengeful and terrified of anything greater than a paper cut--and suffering from delusions of grandeur that had him believing that he'd _ever_ stood a chance against her. He was also a genius, however poor his genjustu was. That was why they'd gone against each other so often. He hated believing that he was second best.

"Not a sound," she whispered, but the others didn't seem to have heard the trouble here over the blonde's screaming. Quietly, she checked her pouch, and counted only two more kunai. She'd have to be quick, smooth, and lucky--and very precise to not end up killing them.

Piece of cake.

* * *

She could understand why her father was always so exhausted after trips to the border, Sakura thought wryly, breath rough. The Suzuki clan hardly gave her a second alone, and everyone swarmed around her, talking at once. Apologizing over and over for attacking a Haruno--not just any Haruno, but Haruno Sen's _daughter_. That she was the Hokage's apprentice was beyond their notice; she was the only child of their savior and most loyal friend. 

"I have to apologize," Suzuki was saying now, very pale under his tan. "You were wrongfully attacked in what was supposed to be a safe house, by my own daughter. Please, forgive us."

"I can hardly blame you for allowing yourselves to be manipulated like puppets," she said, polite smile in place. The comment stung, just as she'd intended. "And I insulted your home by suspecting your daughter. A loving father always looks for reasons the insult is misguided. You were entitled."

"Feelings should be left at home," he said gravely, bowing his head. "So your father told me. Very well. But if you cannot forgive me, please forgive my men. They know nothing about who you are, and acted accordingly."

She patted his arm with her bandaged hand. "Of course. They're still alive aren't they?" She moved her face closer. "But just between us, I only pretended to suspect your daughter to draw out the real enemy. Why do you think I left your men alone? Except for that bruise I gave your nephew."

"I apologize," he said again. "From now on, you will always have our trust."

"Then I'll be disappointed," she said, eyes narrowing. "You've done exactly what you should have. No matter who it is acting questionably, you should act accordingly. Anyone can Henge and walk straight in here through the protected levels. And the prisoners." She reached for her case now and opened it, turning so that the case faced away from her. Several small blades were propelled out, _shikt-shikt-shikt_, and there was a line of shuriken stuck in the wall. She turned the case back around and withdrew a few vials of clear liquid. She handed them over.

"Inject any prisoners with this," she said. "It's a drug that makes the person injected very amiable. It slows down reaction speed, increases likelihood of talking, and makes it almost impossible to control your chakra. It also will cancel any jutsus that are already in place,_ including _Henge no Jutsu." She also pulled out a scrap of paper. "Here's the recipe for it, as well. Most of the items on the list should be local, so you shouldn't have any problems."

He took the paper, but kept one eye on the wall. "Do you always do such things?"

She smiled and moved to collect them. "I go to many strange places." She stretched and yawned, covered her mouth with one hand. "If you'll excuse me, I'm tired. It's been a very long day. I'll speak with you in the morning."

"Of course," he said quickly. "You remember where your rooms are?"

She smiled. "Ruriko-san can escort me. Don't worry, Suzuki-san; I won't go wandering again just yet." She pocketed her shuriken, closed the case and tucked it under one arm, and lifted her bandaged hand to wave as she left the room. "Don't forget to use those quickly. They only work for six hours at a time before you need to inject them again."

"I'll see to it personally."

The aide was just down the hall, among a circle of people talking quietly. Suzuki Kuriko and Matsu were both there, side by side, as was Tokiwa. Sakura paused, rather than simply call the aide and continue walking. However tired you might be, you never showed such weaknesses in front of a potential employer.

"Tokiwa-san," she said, smile in place. "What do you think? Have I shown anything worth hiring yet?"

The younger guards all laughed, and even Matsu smiled, but Kuriko had gone back to her narrow green-eyed glare. Tokiwa looked at her with something that might have been fondness, if she weren't Leaf nin and he wasn't an Earth Country official. "Blind stubbornness, intelligence, cunning, ability, and stamina. And an eye on the bottom line--profit," he said wryly, earning another laugh. "You can bring me the papers tomorrow. I'll sign them then."

"As you wish," she inclined her head. "I'll be going to bed then--so I can steal your money all the quicker. Come on, Ruriko-san. Everyone--goodnight."

The aide was quick to break away, following quickly with nice sharp steps. "Are you all right?" She asked quickly, as soon as they were further away from the group. "I saw your injuries. How could you have won against all of them without any help?"

"Blind stubbornness, intelligence, cunning, ability, stamina, and an eye on the bottom line," she said easily, tongue in cheek. "And I'm familiar with all of their fighting capabilities, having gone up against them all a time or two already."

"But with a broken arm," she protested. "And the poison..."

"Unfortunately Takaishi's poison had a grand flaw--his pride. It wasn't quick-acting, or very strong. Adrenaline slowed it down instead of speeding it up. All it did was give you a fuzzy head. He wanted to kill me up close and personal in as bloody and painful a way as he could. Well--up close for a puppeteer."

She nodded slowly. "I see. So you won because he didn't seriously try to kill you."

Sakura considered for a second and then nodded. "Exactly. And because I once fought against the best, and the one who died was him." It had been close--very close. She'd almost died that day. Chiyo had died. And in the end, the one who had killed Sasori was himself, and the heart he'd forgotten he still had.

But that wasn't her legend. The legend was her at her best, as the best, every time against every one--rival nin, missing nin, and Akatsuki. All was one in the same.

"Really," the aide said, eyes on her face for a long moment. "I see." She was quiet for a moment, still sneaking glances for several feet. "Do you think you'd be able to fight them again? If they get free?"

"Without question," she smiled at her. "Because I still have more chakra than they have puppets. And the drug I have them keeps them from being able to focus their chakra as well. If they can still _walk_ in an hour, I'd be impressed."

She nodded slowly. "So we're safe then? No more fighting tonight?"

"Not from those three, no. Whoever they were working with might be a different matter. I know these people. Takaishi can only use, at most, eight puppets as a time. The lord used the same amount. The blond had seven, and the other one had six. Which means that we have four puppets unaccounted for--six if we're counting the two guards."

"Really." The aide was pale. "So there really might be trouble."

"Possible, but unlikely. Any attack now would result in them being unmasked. However good they are, it's impossible to strike quietly--not tonight." She reached out to pat the girl's shoulder and found her stiff as a rod. "You don't have to worry," she said. "Nothing's going to happen."

She nodded sharply. "You're right. Of course. Nothing."

"That's a girl." She smiled. "So have you been staying here long? You don't look like a Suzuki, which is why I'm asking."

"Since I was eight," she answered. "About six years."

"A very long time. And has Suzuki-san ever let anything hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No. I've always been welcome here."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. This place will always be your home." She paused at her door before going in. "Ruriko-san," she said after a moment. "'Ruri' means 'emerald', doesn't it? It's a very pretty name."

The aide blushed.

"Good night," Sakura said, and shut the door behind her.

* * *

**Note**:_Oh my God_, this was a long chapter. And kind of boring, and really hard to write. It is 7,210 words long--just this one chapter! Yes, over 28 pages long. Since Hiei's Cute Girl asked me to write it Saturday, I've been typing out a thousand words a day, and waiting impatiently for this chapter to finish. It's just the Prologue! What am I going to do when I get to the real story? 

...Okay, so here's the fun part. Look up. See this chapter? There are huge spoilers here for anyone who reads my _Boys and Girls_ fic. But you have to not only look at them, but also know _where_ to look. Because Sakura's daddy, while bearing the same name as he does in _Boys and Girls_, does not have the same personality--in fact, he's nothing like this. However, he is very close with the Suzuki family--they treat(ed) him like the Hokage in that story, too.

Yes, the Suzukis appear in_Boys and Girls_--but unfortunately not for at least ten more chapters. Matsu and Kuriko have a pretty large role there, too (and also another story I'm plotting, that you'll have to see later).

Hmm...aside from that, I think that's pretty much everything.

The next chapter has mentions of Itachi and the other Akatsuki members, and you'll hear about why Sakura is here without her team or any backup, but there's no Itachi for a little bit longer after that. So, sorry. It just takes me a while to wind up! We'll get there...probably...

Oh, and since I'm here--guess what today is? No, not just Sunday. It's February 10--my birthday. So be nice, won't you, and review for me?


	2. Sakura: Maiden and Discord

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

Note: Sorry, just noticed, my translation was a bit off. "Ruri" means emerald, not Ruki. Whatever, that's that I get for writing at midnight--I don't notice a typo when I get back to work. I'll fix it later when I go back and edit. So, from now on, Rukiko is now Ruriko. Thanks for reading.

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Part One: Maiden and Discord.

They'd said that this room had been kept for her father, but a novice could tell it was only a room of station. The first person who'd ever lie in this bed had been her, with her eyes half open, looking at the flickering torches under her eyelashes. As always, the flames were both attractive and repulsive.

Half of her--the human side--wanted to hide her face under blankets, seeking darkness for the restful sleep. Her other half, jaded and self-preserving, preferred half-wakefulness, watching for the enemy that struck in the dark. And below them both was the magnetic attraction to those flames, at any time, in any situation.

Here, tonight, she couldn't allow the weakness of sleep. So instead, she meditated, floating just along the edges of consciousness.

Just close enough to notice the shadow that flickered above her bed, and move, the two kunai she'd gone to bed with blocking the long sweep of a scythe. Her foot shot up, kicked the arm and blade further out, letting her slip out from under it.

"As I thought," she said, turning to face the body. Wide shoulders, thin waist, thick neck and short hair. A man. Or maybe only something that looked like one. Probability said that it was a puppet. Not that the mysterious puppeteer couldn't have a human companion, but still. If there was a scythe-wielding maniac around here, she'd have seen him before this.

Unless he just got here.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

She took her kunai and stabbed at his neck, dodging away an instant before contact as another shadowed figure wielding kamas swung to take _her_arm off. Sakura kicked the body back, and was relieved to find no slight give of muscled flesh. The 'female' was a puppet, just like the other.

She caught the male puppet, threw him at--and through--the door, and looked quickly around as light spilled in from the hallway. The puppeteer had to be nearby to see the fight.

Usually.

The Hyuuga were the only ones who could see through objects, where objects wouldn't be any real problem. But without sight, there was still smell and touch and taste. Since Sakura meticulously guarded her scent when away from Konoha, that was one fear down. Touch only worked in close range, unless the room was trapped--which it wasn't, since she'd checked before bed. Unless her opponent was a snake, taste was out, too.

That meant that her only fear would have to be sound. She was good, but her feet still had to touch the ground; she didn't have instantaneous control over her weight, whereas puppets only had as much weight as their master wanted them to.

And wouldn't you know it,_sound_ was the one thing she hadn't prepared for.

That meant that she'd have to finish her opponents as quietly as possible, find the puppeteer, and hold him or her down for as long until she could administer the drug and wait for it to take effect. No problem.

She ran for the desk.

The female puppet shot at her, kama spinning, like a deadly version of those propellers that small children played with. The sound made a faint whistling--likely how the enemy knew where they were. Something she might be able to use, but not now.

Sakura jumped up, kicked the puppet's head back, and used the leverage to flip onto the wall, chakra sticking her feet to the wall just above her window. She didn't have much chakra, even with meditation and the vitamins she'd taken before bed.

Right now, she could almost appreciate how weak Kakashi-sensei felt after using his Sharingan too much. But she thought that even _he_might have a problem fighting puppets in these conditions. Not even a ninja dog would be able to help him.

Of course, it'd be a moot point if they could, since she couldn't summon them. The only thing she _could_ summon was...

She smiled. Now _there_ was a plan. She bit her thumb.

The slug she'd summoned was small, virtually a child, but that was all the better for what she needed it for. "Puppets," she said by way of instruction, and lept for them, knowing that the slug would understand the message. That was the last of her chakra. Anything beyond this was beyond her.

But since when had she ever given up?

Her fist landed on the puppets face with enough force to break a human nose, but without any chakra-induced power. The puppet's head shot up, and she grabbed its shoulders, spinning around to catch the male puppet, who'd moved forward, sensing advantage.

Breathe in. She grabbed the female by legs, swung her hard at the male, and fell quickly to the ground when the female simply sat up and tried to bring the kama down on her. Instead, the kama got stuck in the desk, letting Sakura slide straight between the legs, straight to the male, and kicked him into the female, who had yanked her weapons back hard enough to make the desk splinter, and impale the male with them both.

Sakura grabbed the male's scythe and swung it hard enough to pin both puppets together. She dove for her pack, dragging it out from under the bed, looking for something flammable.

Her perfume.

She bit her lip, trying to decide, but the puppets were starting to become untangled. Her decision was made for her. She grabbed one of her kunai with tag attached, threw her entire glass jar of expensive perfume, and then the kunai. It lit immediately.

She grabbed two plain kunai from her pack and ran for the door, and the sound of muffled struggling.

And there was the slug on the face of her attacker, several yards away, almost completely around the corner. The girl's hands dug into the slug's body, but could find no purchase, and succeeded only in making more of them, all the easier for them to smother her.

As the explosive tag finally went off, Sakura sighed. "Oh, Ruriko-chan," she said sadly, and the aide stiffened. "Now you've gone and made me mad."

* * *

Understandably, considering the circumstances, Sakura decided to make her own breakfast. Which was how, when Suzuki and Tokiwa came looking for her, that was where she was, pinching her own herbs and throwing them into the curry in a painful combination that would shrivel all but the toughest of cast iron stomachs. She paused in her whistling long enough to nod her head toward the table.

"That's the contract, Tokiwa-san," she said, and smothered a yawn.

"We need to speak, Sakura-san," Suzuki started while the Earth Country representative moved to look at the papers.

"Did I overstep?" She queried with a smile. "I did ask, but Kuriko-chan said that nobody would mind if I cooked for myself. If I cleaned up after, and I will."

"This has nothing to do with your cooking," he said, and she glanced at him again, hand moving to turn the burner down. There was anger marking his voice now. "You can't just go around accusing my people at your leisure."

"And you can't go on taking in shinobi refugees for the fun of it," she sent back quickly. "Ruriko-san was the other puppet-user. Or did you miss the remains of two puppets in my bedroom? What in the world were you thinking, not only taking in refugees, but giving them important stations in this building?"

"I didn't miss it," Suzuki said through gritted teeth. "Those were my men."

"Suzuki Ayame and Hanajiro," she agreed. "Distant cousins to you, and Ruriko-san's close friends. One of which is near her at least half of the time, and both walk with their feet barely touching the ground. Also, according to your daughter, both have been acting strangely lately for the past six months. When you first gave her this station, unless I'm mistaken. On Hanajiro's recommendation."

He continued to glower at her, but she refused to back down. "As the overseer of this project, I should have you reported. This is one of the most important locations outside of Konoha, and you've put both sides in a state of national security. Your entire team and staff will have to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb, just to see if any of you are more than you seem. And on top of that, I'm going to have to interrogate all of your prisoners after breakfast, since absolutely_none _of you can be trusted.

"Which is going to be putting me behind, I don't mind telling you," she turned back to stirring the meal. "And unlike you, I happen to be in a hurry. Don't touch that."

Tokiwa froze quickly in the fact of squishing a ladybug with his contract. Sakura held out a hand and the bug lifted off, sending the Earth Country representative a look that could only be called smug, before coming to land on her arm.

He looked at her. "A friend of yours?"

"A messenger from the Aburame clan," she affirmed. "My friend Shino knew that I might be in a hurry, and wouldn't be able to report back to Konoha. So my little friend here will report for me, and let me go quickly." She smiled at the bug cheerfully and when it flew off again to climb on a wall, she starting to spoon rice out of the pot.

"What do you think of the contract, Tokiwa-san?" She asked curiously.

He gave her a long look. "You're robbing me."

"That price is standard for an S-Class mission," she reminded him primly. "And as I expect Akatsuki to appear, I believe I'm going light on your purse. In any case, we can expect some fighting, if this is only the first strike. Thus far, they're all experienced A-Class missing-nin--which I know, since I've met them before. And _those_ missions were S-Class, as well. You could easily say that the person being robbed is _me_, Tokiwa-san, since I'm not charging you a nickel for them, and they costed me significant time and energy to put down."

He made a disgusted sound. "And this? What's this? Retrieval...?"

She glanced over his shoulder to look at the article in question. "Ah, that's personal. Which is why my cost is so low, I hope you know. Retrieval missions are notoriously expensive. And anyway, it's only a possible, which means that you'll be compensated if I don't bring anyone back."

He raised an eyebrow. "You expect to bring someone back?"

"Again, it's personal. I give up nothing that is important to me." She smiled. "So, would either of you like some breakfast? My mother's own recipe."

"I'm afraid not," Tokiwa said, looking at the ominous bubbling concoction she set as a topping for the rice.

"Suzuki-san?" She queried, fetching a bowl.

"No, thank you." The thank you was grudging, only used because of who she was. He was still angry with her, and shamed on top of it.

She smiled slightly. "If it's my breakfast you're afraid of, there's more food over there on the counter. The cooks made it just this morning." She made her bowl quickly, and poured her vitamin drink into a glass. "I'm afraid that I need all of this. It's filling, and helps rebuild chakra quickly. Unfortunately, the taste is only a few shades better than death."

She took a bite slowly, chewed, and winced. "Just like my mother makes it."

Since she put it that way, Tokiwa moved over to the cook's less-intimidating meal, and served himself a plate. She decided it might be best not to mention that since she hadn't cooked it, it might have been poisoned. It had been a bad few days.

"Just out of curiosity," he started, moving back to the table, "how did you know that the aide was the puppeteer?"

"That was highly elementary," she said, and shrugged. "Her name. The Suzuki clan take theirs from trees and flowers. Suzuki-san, for instance, is Masasugi-san. _Sugi_ means cedar. Suzuki Matsu is pine. Suzuki Kuriko, _chestnut child_. Ruriko-san's name means _emerald child_. A stone, which is why I'm assuming that she comes from your country, whether it's her real name or not.

"To continue, we know that the other puppeteer had to be here. Had to be, and for a good long time. They knew my father, and he only shows up here occasionally. They had to have access to the prisoners, and couldn't be questioned in sensitive areas. As aide, she could go anywhere--as escort, she not only was expected to follow me, but she's be in the prime position to cast a bad light on my family.

"And also," she continued, taking another bite. "She's not a Suzuki. A Suzuki could have fit any and all of those things, but they're too..._jingoistic_, I suppose. At least to my family. Kuriko-chan was probably her best hope. A puppet-user--I wonder who got her interested in the weapon--and not exactly very welcoming, even--or perhaps especially--to a Haruno.

"I might have missed something, but for the life of me, I can't think of what it is. So are there any other questions?"

"You aren't like your father," Suzuki said, for the first time this morning neither angry nor grudging. "Where did you learn to think like this?"

"Ninja Academy," she said promptly. "Then, for a short time, with my sensei, Hatake Kakashi. But I didn't start fine-tuning it until I was apprenticed to the Hokage."

Both men stared at her, both looking so surprised that she had to laugh.

"What? Did you think I lived my life off of my father's name? Which is only important here, Suzuki-san, not anywhere else in the world. In Konoha, I'm just a second-generation ninja--third on my mother's side, and we're not particularly close to that side of the family. We aren't even clan heads. We'd be nobodies if this place didn't exist."

"Hokage's apprentice," Tokiwa mused, looking again at the contract. "That explains why this is so overpriced."

"Do I have to walk you through my pricing system again, Tokiwa-san?" She asked, one eyebrow raised, "Or would you prefer to just sign already?"

He snorted and drew a pen out of his sleeve, writing his name quickly in swift, even strokes. Then he shoved the papers right back at her. "Haruno, consider yourself a hired woman."

As she checked his signature, she wondered, smiling, when there had ever been any doubt.

* * *

Naturally, they couldn't leave until she spoke with the prisoners. And, being a very wise man, Tokiwa decided to keep a close eye on his investment, sitting nearby in the interrogation room, just out of sight of the prisoners, along with guards and Suzuki. The only one the puppeteers could see, indeed, the only one important for them to see, was the person doing the interrogation: Haruno Sakura.

Ibiki was Konoha's best in interrogation, because he was a madman. He also generally had plenty of time, and the willpower to make his form of torture last an incredibly long time.

She happened to have significantly less time, too little chakra to heal any life-threatening injuries she might make, and she just happened to be interrogating puppet-users--often described as the most mad of all ninja, since, though they tended to value their own lives more than other ninja, they thought it might be fun to add on to their own bodies. Which really wasn't what you'd call a painless activity.

And since she didn't know what kind of add-ons they might have made to their bodies, where these additions might be located, or what they did--merely to shield, or were they a weapon?--Sakura thought she might have to try psychological torture.

Takaishi was always the easiest to break. She caught his left hand, his dominant, in her own, and slowly started feeling down his fingers, putting in just enough pressure to make him break into a cold sweat.

"I don't know anything," he said quickly, when she reached the base of his first finger.

"Really, Takaishi, I'm surprised at you. You think I don't know you at all, after all these years?" Inexorably, she broke his finger. And smiled a soulless smile at his scream, pinching the broken appendage. "Well, if you know nothing, I suppose you still have nine fingers left. It's been so long since I broke any, I'm afraid I might be out of practice. I should amend that."

He screamed again.

"For the record, Takaishi, why don't you tell me something you _do_ know? Where were you six months ago?"

He bared his teeth at her as her fingers fluttered on his third finger. An admirable attempt, if he hadn't been sweating profusely, and shaking like a leaf. "You know damned well where I was."

"You'll find that I don't." She added the slightest bit of pressure, and he actually whimpered.

"Did," his voice was sharp and weak. "Cloud! Cloud Country! And you were there!"

She was surprised enough that she actually laughed. "Takaishi, if I had been there, I'd have cut your throat for the fun of it. I was on assignment six months ago, in Sand. If you have the energy to lie to me, you still have far too many unbroken fingers."

"You were there," he repeated petulantly, after two more fingers, voice hoarse from screaming. "I saw you. You talked to me."

"And what did I say? As closely as you can remember."

"A God," he said and sobbed, "a God was coming."

"Takaishi," she said sweetly, and lifted his face up so that he could look at her through bloodshot eyes. "I am God. I am come. Worship me now, and tell me why you have come to me here."

"Told me," he whispered, and fell into the black.

She studied his pale face for a long moment, biting one lip. You couldn't be very surprised at him falling for such a low-class Henge, but the words were disturbing.

Pein.

Damn rank bastard.

He hadn't been in Cloud, either, but that didn't mean a thing to someone like him. His clones were as far-reaching as the God he thought he was. Still, for him to leave someone like Takaishi alive, there had to be something in his mind.

It was infuriating to think that even now, he was still playing her like a favorite toy.

She let Takaishi land where he fell, and turned to the next puppeteer in the line.

The blond was easy to deal with. For someone who liked explosions and flame in his puppets, he was terrified of heat. The red-hot needles she stuck under his fingernails was enough to have him screaming and begging for mercy, telling her anything that might be considered interesting to virtually anyone at all. Up to and including the name of his first lover.

She stored the name away for future use--you never knew when you might have to go undercover--and moved on to the next.

The would-be lord had always considered himself a woman's man, and was the most amusing to interrogate. She sat in his lap, legs wrapped tightly around his hips, and slowly, mercilessly, started cutting his throat with her kunai into fine, thin horizontal strips. From just under his chin to his collarbone he was all blood and shredded skin, and he was still cursing her with tears in his eyes as she moved on.

The last of the first four was the simplest to crack. He'd watched the others' interrogation, and was already in tears, waiting for his torture. He broke when, pausing in the threat of stabbing his eye out with her kunai, she ordered her lunch.

She wasn't sure what he thought she was going to do with him and vegetable ramen, and, knowing Naruto as she did, wasn't altogether sure that was a bad thing. Ramen was a quick, common staple of her diet outside Konoha. There was no sense in losing what little taste she had for it.

So, eating her lunch, she wrote suppositions on a sheet of paper, and wondered a little at the repeated line. Someone looking like her had been seen, and had said something to them about a God. Not a one of them had been in the same area.

Not a one of them had fought as they'd remembered her.

The clones hadn't known about Takaishi's thumb, or her fighting style, but they'd all known her style in disguises. Where she was most likely to go.

He hadn't had as close an eye on her as she'd feared.

She set the paper aside, for overview later, and moved back to the prisoners. Ruriko sat in the chair stiffly, arms tied down and feet pointing out like a lifeless puppet. Except for her eyes, sharp enough to be considered lethal--for a lesser being. There was enough hate in them to erase any half-baked hope that she'd been wrong about the girl. Not that her slugs had ever been wrong before.

Not that _she_'d ever been wrong before.

The sneer on the girl's face said what she thought of Sakura's interrogation prowess, but Sakura kept her expression impassive.

"Do we have to do this?" She queried tiredly. "Why don't you just tell me everything you know. Who hired you, who gave you your contacts, who told you the when and the where. And just what connection you have with Akatsuki."

The former aide spat at her. "Akatsuki. _Huh_. You Leaf nin blame everything on them."

She dragged her chair around and sat in it, rocking back to balance on the rear legs. She looked at the girl under her eyelashes. "I'm not an idiot, Ruriko. Living puppets is primarily a Sand nin thing, but I think you're Rock nin. It'd make things simpler for you. So you'd have to have someone teach you. Someone with less morals, more ambition. More importance. Status, I think, would be important with you. You could have pretended to be the cleaning lady."

"Sure lot you know." The tone was derisive, but she actually considered.

"Yes," she said. "I think I do know. Ninja without a team spend most of their time on spying missions, don't they?"

"And your team?" The sneer, and doubt, was automatic.

"Killed them myself." She had no problem lying. "They got in my way. Assumed that I was the weak one, and didn't think to protect their backs from the one watching them."

"And you did?" The aide demanded, but sweat had started to form. She'd bought it. Right along with half the others in the room, judging by the muffled protests and hastily drawn signs against the devil. More than half put their hands on their weapons, just in case.

Sakura simply smiled. "I saw you, didn't I? A spider catches more flies if no one knows they're looking."

She was pale now, but pure stubbornness marked her features. "I'm not telling you anything."

Sakura sighed, and climbed out of her chair. "I was afraid you'd say that. I'm going to have to ruin you now." Her hand started to glow green. "You pride yourself on your hearing, your skills, and your intelligence. Pain means nothing to you. I've already noticed how little of your body is actually yours."

The girl flinched.

"But your ears..." she raised her hand. "A skilled medic-nin can damage your inner ear without affecting your hearing. Your reflexes will be off, your natural abilities useless. I'm afraid you won't be much of a puppeteer after this. Action and reaction can be the most important features for ninja of any kind. And I'm afraid this will hurt you far more than your fingers could."

She didn't actually expect her to do it. For that reason alone, she broke through the walls of her inner ear, shattering the eardrum with several thin spikes of chakra. And then she stepped back.

"Untie her. And stand her up." She commanded, and, after a strained moment, several of the guards moved over.

Seconds after, the aide crashed to her knees, and her stomach heaved.

Apparently, puppeteers still required food. Well, that illusion was shattered. Sakura knelt beside her, pure will not letting her so much as wrinkle her nose at the smell.

"Tell me," she said, voice filled with steel.

And was only a little surprised when the girl went for her throat. She caught her wist and had her kunai just under the aide's ear in an instant, barely having to lean back to compensate for speed.

"Sloppy." Her eyebrows rose. "Did you think that just because it didn't hurt, I was bluffing? Very poor form. I'll have to take away another of your senses. Maybe your smell."

Since sweat was starting to break out on the girl's face, she lifted her hand just in front of the girl's face, so that she could see it glow green.

"Unfortunately, unlike your inner ear, which might possibly be salvaged by an expert, like my master, the second my chakra goes into your brain, your smell's gone forever. You have three seconds to tell me everything I want to know. And since I'm burning nerve passageways in your brain, it's going to hurt. Like hell."

The sneer was swift and automatic, but nerves showed plainly on the younger girl's face. "I know nothing."

"That's fine. I'm good at jogging memories." Sakura smiled.

And made good on her threat.

The scream was almost loud enough to shatter eardrums (another thing impossible to fix; you couldn't regrow hair with chakra, no matter what jutsu you used), but she didn't even flinch, methodically cutting through the least bit of resistance.

"I can steal things from you all day," she said as the aide lay panting on the ground. "You still have your sight--easy enough to get rid of. And you're still able to absorb tactile information. All I need to do is block your nervous system, and you can die, just from a slight temperature change. So here's your choice: Tell me everything you know. Or I tear you apart, piece by piece, until you're begging us to kill you."

There was a long silence, where no one moved, barely breathing at all except for the Hokage's apprentice, who, of them all, was the only one who looked completely relaxed.

"Akatsuki," Ruriko finally said, and her eyes closed. "You were right. I work for them."

"At fourteen? Weren't you the precocious one."

A slight cough, all the more pitiful because of the girl's sore throat. "I'm...older than I seem."

"How much older?"

"I'm nineteen."

"Still precocious, but if you only work _for_ them, and aren't one _of_ them, maybe I'll stomach it." She raised one eyebrow. "Why here?"

"To keep an eye on you," the aide said now, and smiled a weak little smile. "Hime-sama."

Disgust at the title, and the only person who'd ever used it, made her sneer. "So you aren't Sasori's at all, are you?"

"You assumed that I was. Assumptions like that can make a person trip up."

"You'll find my methods full-range. I don't trip so easily." She drew in one long breath. "Who took down my father?"

"Zetsu."

The name meant next to nothing to her. "Why?"

"He was too close." Ruriko tried to breath for a long moment, and then smiled weakly up at her. "You're too late now. What you're looking for is far beyond your reach."

And then, with one last cough of blood, the false aide died. Sakura looked at her for a long minute, standing, and pressed her boot against the girl's ribs, kicking her over to face the ceiling instead of bleed onto the floor.

"You're wrong," she told the body. "What I want, I find. And nothing as insignificant as you will ever get in my way."

The guards and officials were all silent but Takaishi, who'd woke up in the middle of her interrogation, looked up at her from his own position on the floor. "You didn't kill your teammates," he said, and his tone was sure.

She smiled. "I knew I liked you for a reason, Takaishi," she said, and was considerate enough to lift him, and thus his chair, back into a sitting position. "Of course I didn't kill them. Did you notice any more lies, while you were at it?"

"You didn't have to kill her. Why did you?"

She brushed his hair out of his face. "Because, unlike you, I don't like her. And lucky for me, I managed to devised a way to make her die as painfully as possible."

"What did you do to her?" Suzuki finally asked, voice very quiet and shocked.

She spared him a glance. "I burned burned away nerve passages in her brain, connected to her sense of smell. If you're careful, and have chakra to burn, you can possibly do it without making the brain bleed. I wasn't, and I don't, and since I was going to kill her anyway, I didn't think you'd mind, so long as we got our information out of her. It doesn't effect memory, or her speech function very much. And now we know, not just who she's working for, but what she's already done."

She smiled at the other prisoners. "And now that you and your friends know that I _will_ kill you, don't you think it's time to tell me everything you might have left out?"

Takaishi took a deep breath. "Where do you want me to start?"

"How about Earth Country? I seem to have a vested interest there." She sat down, folded her hands. "And if you can tell me anything about this mysterious Zetsu, it would not go unappreciated."

* * *

The interrogation had proceeded smoothly with four very eager and helpful questionees, each interrupting the other's account of what had happened without qualm, and every one paying rapt attention to the steady tattoo Sakura beat with her foot against Ruriko's side. The body hadn't been moved until well after the interrogation, and those dead green eyes had been focused on the prisoners as if the devil himself was watching through them.

In their minds, the devil could just stay in hell. For the moment they were still alive, and Haruno Sakura trumped demon any day.

So she whistled to herself as she moved her things from drawers to pack, ignoring the scorch marks on the floor and the holes in the wall from what traps had been set off, and the mix of blood and oil that was characteristic of living puppets. She whistled and refolded her clothes, set them in her bag, and executed a quick dance step on her way for the next drawer.

"You're an interesting person, Haruno-san," Tokiwa said in grey tones, standing in her doorway. "Medic-nin, Chuunin, Hokage's apprentice. You fight battalions and interrogate prisoners the very next day, anticipate ambushes in your sleep, and still manage to find the energy and enthusiasm to whistle and dance on your way to an even more dangerous location."

"I'm afraid I don't know that many songs," she said easily, "but I should have enough for packing my things."

He laughed. "And your opponents think you're a God. What did you do to them?"

"Tokiwa-san, I am God." She set the last piece of cloth into the bag and then reached for her weapons. "All four of them were geniuses in their own right. They thought that they were better. I proved them wrong. Every defense they could create only worked in my advantage. Their fighting capabilities could be seen through by a child. They_are_ children, and green with it."

"So you think it will be alright to leave them here?"

She set a kunai on the corner of the bed, point toward her. "If you don't think so, kill them yourself."

Rather than take the weapon, he looked at her. "Where is your team?"

Her lips curved. "Does it matter?"

"I didn't ask, because it didn't suit me to know," he put on a self-depreciating grin. "And from the way you charged me, I doubt I can afford them. But do you think you can take on Akatsuki without them?"

"When Akatsuki hears I'm coming, they'd do well to run hard and fast the opposite way," she said, but then, catching her employer's look, damped down pride and bravado and merely shrugged. "My team consists of a missing-nin and Kyuubi's vessel, a former ANBU, a current ANBU, and a member of a demolished section of ANBU, Root. The last remains in Konoha for security purposes, and the first is being chased by the other three. So no, I don't believe you could afford them at all."

"And you're the Hokage's apprentice," he said thoughtfully.

"That's right, Tokiwa-san," she said, and smiled coolly. "You have yourself the only remnant member of Konoha's Team Seven, now Team Kakashi."

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said, and looked at her quickly. "He's the retrieval part of my contract, isn't he?"

"That's right." Satisfied with her traps, she closed the bag. "We're after Akatsuki, aren't we? He'll find us."

After a moment's pause, the Earth Country official could only laugh. "I can't believe this. I'm bankrolling the capture of a dangerous missing-nin, and all I get in return is some pithy information."

Well satisfied with the irony, Sakura grinned. "You're the one who signed the contract, Tokiwa-san. But if it makes you feel better, if I die, you won't have to pay a cent."

"Let's hope it doesn't some to that," he said, and tugged lightly on a strand of pink hair. "I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a God."

"Every person is responsible for their own death," she said, and pulled her bag on over her shoulder. "Something my mother taught me. A wise person chooses the how and why, so that there can never be any regrets."

"There is no life without regrets," Suzuki intoned, stepping into the room. "Something your father taught me."

She smiled. "Well, it isn't the first time they've disagreed. A marriage is built on its disagreements. My grandmother."

He smiled. "I am proud to have known you, Sakura-san. You're nothing like your father. That was my mistake." One hand reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. "When you return to Konoha, tell your family that I look forward to meeting them all. If they're even half as interesting as you, it will be an experience."

She smiled again, and stood on tiptoe to press her lips against his cheek. "My family would be honored to meet you, Suzuki-san. Perhaps when they visit, it won't be in official capacity."

HIs daughter and nephew were just outside, and followed as both she and Tokiwa were escorted outside. For once, there was no hostility on Kuriko's face, though surprise showed sharply when, outside, Sakura held a hand out to her. After a momentary pause, she took it.

"More blades don't make a puppet better," she said, and watched surprise flicker in the other girl's eyes. "Practice your movement more. Swiftness and precision is what makes a good puppet lethal."

After a moment, she nodded. "I'll practice. Come back soon so I can try again."

"You won't touch me," said said with confidence, and moved on to Matsu, who accepted her hand with less surprise. She noted, out of the corner of her eye, Kuriko's suddenly narrow eyes. "You move quickly and effectively. Work on your footwork. You could have had me at any time, just by tripping me up. And your eyes. If you can learn to fight blind, you'd quickly be an asset."

He nodded. "I'll work on it."

She moved, finally, to the end of the line, and Suzuki himself. She took his hand. "This might be as good a time as any to tell you that your prisoners have escaped." As if on cue, there was the sound of an explosion. She talked right over the raised voices, and ninja running for the prison. "They shouldn't be much trouble, judging by their condition, but you won't be able to catch them. They know better than to attack you now."

Tokiwa looked at her with wide eyes. "You knew."

"I did know." She smiled at him. "But it's good for their morale to escape. They already know that the second they stop being useful, I'll kill them."

She saluted the remaining guard, and, with Tokiwa right behind, made her way to the next mission. To Earth Country. And, from there, Akatsuki.

* * *

**Note**: I _hate_ this chapter. It's an entire 761 words short from my goal, which means an entire three and a half pages short from my 7,000-words-per-chapter goal. I only have two "good" scenes in the entire chapter--my cooking scene, and where she tortures the would-be noble. And, rather than my thumbnail goal of three scenes per chapter, here I have four.

And the next chapter is only going to be harder. Mainly because, instead of my usual Sakura-only POV, next chapter is set inside Itachi's head. And do you have any idea how much fanfiction I've read with Itachi as POV character? Next to none. And out of the ones I _have_ read, the only ones that were any good aren't even close to being helpful to me. So excuse me while I bang my head against a wall, and bleed out the next chapter.

I _can_ do it, and it _will_ be good, and I will mope and groan and procrastinate like crazy, but it_will_ be done. I have a schedule to stick to here!

Thanks to **TeenageCrisis**,**himeyuzuki**, **Hiei's Cute Girl**, **dark Alley**,**aznkitty180** and**midnight000shadow** for reviewing.


	3. Itachi: The Demon Night

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Part Two: The Demon Night

_The eternity that flows from my hands into yours,_

_You do not even look at that sand that is my life, in your hands._

There was a silence here. The calm before the storm. The second before nightfall. The pause between every heartbeat. The instant between life and death, where all choices were made, and everything, no matter how impossible, was a viable option.

That instant between had been his realm since the day he'd killed his best friend. Maybe even before then.

He liked to think that he had been born there.

"We're supposed to wait here, huh."

He didn't answer, crossing the room to stand in the window. The day was bright and hot and cloudless, sun dancing high overhead. The road was filled with people, and colors, and voices that crowded on top of each other in a blanket of noise and cheer.

Once, he would not have seen anything in the crowd except for a useful place to hide, blend in and work towards his target. The noise would be an annoying necessity, that would keep his steps from being heard, mask the clinking of his weapons.

Today, the crowd was simply a blur of color; the voices, a dull roar.

Uchiha Itachi was quickly finding his way upon the endangered species list. And while being dumb and blind was all perfectly well when you happened to be immortal, he didn't currently have his master's brand of permanence. That was probably the reason his partner was someone like Hoshigaki Kisame. Someone physical, for when his genjustu wasn't enough.

It was a relief. Blind terror didn't suit him.

More than a little annoyed by the accurate, if distasteful, pun, he moved away from the window. And blessed his parents for the sense of decorum that prevented him from speaking his thoughts aloud. First, there were the questions about sanity--no, thank you; nice and insane here--and then there was the whole not just giving up your location, but showing your back to the enemy.

He hated Earth Country. It always made him feel so maudlin. Thank God that circumstances--and his annoying little brother--had seen fit to destroy that one particularly annoying piece of it. Now if only they could get to the rest of the blasted country...

"How long do you think it's going to take?" Kisame asked, coming to lean against the window himself. He flashed pointed teeth in a wicked smile as a pretty woman glanced up from her shopping, took one long look at him, and ran away screaming.

Itachi almost winced, nearly sighed. Couldn't he restrain himself? They weren't here to draw attention. "It will take as long as it takes."

"Six days sealing the Jinchuuriki is bad enough," his partner complained. "But we don't even know when _that person_'s going to get here, do we?"

"No," he agreed, and moved back across the room, sat down on the bed. He claimed it without a thought, knowing that Kisame wouldn't protest. He lay down, leaning back against the wall, and closed his eyes. "Wake me when you finish amusing yourself. And try not to cause too much of a disturbance. We may have to stay here for some time."

He didn't have to see to hear the smile that flitted across his partner's face--something he had never personally seen himself, though he'd heard much about it.

"Believe me, I have no intention of messing things up here."

And then, blessed silence.

If he wanted, any time he wanted, there would be conversation. He and Kisame understood each other well enough without words, which was why the older man took no offense at his succinct replies, and tendency toward silence. They got along well enough for that. Kisame would probably have a heart attack if he'd ever decided to talk to him of his own accord.

It was a pity ghosts never took the same path.

Shisui stood in the window, watching as the Mist nin disappeared from sight, blending in surprisingly well for a large blue man with sharp teeth, who carried a large sword, and wore the Akatsuki cloak.

"How many people do you think he's going to hurt tonight, huh? Itachi-kun?" The ghost asked, the smile that not even being murdered could wipe away. But his eyes were deep and soulless as he turned to look at his one-time friend. "He's getting worse."

Yeah. Itachi didn't have to open his eyes to see his friend, but he did anyway. Manners, propriety, protocol. He sat up. "I'm perfectly aware."

Shisui grinned at the look on his face. "There was a time when I'd be angry at you for not stopping him, but you look about as bad." He was closer in an instant--an annoying ghost trait--and ruffled Itachi's hair in a way he never would have been able to alive. "You're getting old. You're even older than I was."

His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "I was older than you are several years ago."

"Yeah, but now you_look_ it." He shook his head. "Funny when a corpse has more life than you're showing."

"The next time we visit your tomb, we can make a comparison," he sent back a little waspishly. "Until then, get off my face."

Shisui laughed at him. And if Itachi's nose wasn't currently in his way, he'd be taking a nice long look at his mouth. After a second of being completely mortified, and then being absurdly grateful that no one was here to witness this but the ghost of his childhood friend (had he really had a childhood?), he glared at him in accusation.

"_This_ is why I don't talk," he said irritably, and only made his friend laugh harder.

"But it's so cute when you try," the ghost said, wiping tears from his eyes, and laughed some more. "I used to think you kept quiet to put your words in order, but you're really an idiot, aren't you?"

"There is no way to answer that question with you." He was still bright red--unfortunately, a common occurrence here. No one else could make him feel as awkward as someone who'd been there from the start--witness to every embarrassing, absolutely humiliating scene in the life of a gifted child, of which there had to be plenty. No exception.

And Shisui had, without a doubt, been with him through the worst of them. Something that, now that he was dead, he didn't hesitate in lording over Itachi's head.

Not that he'd ever hesitated in the first place.

"Was there something you wanted?" He demanded, taking a series of long, deep breaths. They wouldn't help him much--his friend could break through every shred of calm he had in an instant--but it made him feel better.

"Do you want me to keep an eye out for our little guest?" One dark eye stayed focused on Itachi, belying the casualness of the question. "It's the Earth Country official, right?"

Ah. Itachi closed his eyes again. "No."

"No, it's not, or no, I can't?"

"You don't have to leave."

"Right." Disappointment marked his tone. He almost said that the ghost could leave, walk around and reacquaint himself with the world he was no longer part of, but Shisui was already pushing him back down onto the bed. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you when it's time."

He opened his mouth to protest that he wasn't tired; he'd only closed his eyes to rest them, but then darkness beckoned, and there was nothing but eternity in his dreams.

* * *

Lunch was done by the time he was awake, Shisui's voice whispering his name in his ear. Itachi's eyes shot open, and he was up in a flash. 

Like most people with low blood pressure, not only could he not handle warm temperatures, he had trouble waking up in the morning. Hard to sleep, hard to wake. But whenever Shisui woke him up, it usually meant that there was trouble on its way.

Or he'd just finished cooking, and damned if anyone would skip meals after he'd gone through all that trouble.

Itachi never asked how the ghost was able to cook. Shisui always cooked both when he was asleep, and when no one else was around to witness it, so for all he knew, there was either a possession or his companion was actually a poltergeist. But the real reason Itachi never asked was because he was too busy thanking God that, even with his friend dead, his cooking was not being withheld.

"Kisame's on his way back," the ghost said, "so I can't stay long. You want me to keep a look out for that person for you?"

Now that he wouldn't be left alone. Itachi caught the meaning, and, though there had been a time when he'd hated showing that much weakness to anybody, he nodded. "You can go."

Because, as vulnerable as he felt being alone, he knew how terrified his friend was of Kisame. The Mist nin had moments--a lot of them--where he actually seemed able to sense the ghost's presence. And according to Shisui, Kisame happened to have a large no-ghost zone surrounding him. He actively repelled them. And the longer both ghost and partner were in the same room, the more terrified Shisui got.

Hoshigaki Kisame actually killed ghosts. Wasn't the ironic, considering how much he seemed to enjoy making them.

Shisui looked faintly relieved as he phased out of the room, and Itachi climbed out of bed, compulsively straightening first bed, then hair. He slid on the Akatsuki robe but didn't even bother to fasten it as he simply served up lunch for two.

His partner, he knew, would be ravenous now that suppressed energies had been released.

Though why he couldn't just have sex like a normal person, he had no clue. Itachi, at least, had the excuse that any second they could be interrupted by a ghost with no sense of decency, not only popping in at inopportune moments, but also offering advice. Criticism. An entire running commentary. And we aren't even going into the sound effects.

Instant soft-on.

Kisame walked into the room an instant before his meal was set on the table, but there was no reaction of surprise. He merely smiled that same smile. "Right on time."

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked, moving to sit at his own meal.

The smile only became more lethal. "You want the details?"

"No." No emotion touched on his voice. However many years they'd been together, there were some things you just didn't share. Not with Akatsuki. Not even if you _were_ Akatsuki. Itachi took a sip of tea. "I hope you didn't cause too much of a disturbance."

"Just what you'd call a message. A friendly reminder."

"In blood." Were all Mist nin savages? There was a distinct lack of--non-violent--common sense. If their Leader could change that, the man worked miracles. He shook his head slightly. "The Leader's not going to like that."

Kisame shrugged. "Do you have some form of special attachment to this country?"

"Not really." Did he have any attachment, anywhere?

"I did hear something though," Kisame said, setting his blade aside. "Those puppeteers. Apparently they were defeated. Not a toy left for them to hide behind. The Hokage's apprentice...what's her name. Haruno Sakura-san. She's increasing her legend. Rumor is, she took out all five of them on her own. Destroyed all thirty-seven puppets, and was able to walk away."

"Really." He went through his memory quickly, but couldn't find any mention of a bloodline limit. The family just wasn't that prominent. And she certainly wasn't Jinchuuriki.

"Rumor is," his partner continued. "That she's hunting Akatsuki, as well. And that Tokiwa-san's hired her. She's coming here."

Ah. "So you want to let her find us."

The blood lust still hadn't completely faded from the Mist nin's dark eyes. "I don't think it will impede us all that much. This girl, I heard she had something to do with Sasori's demise. We should do something about that, at least."

If they went for revenge against everyone who'd spilled Akatsuki blood, all of Konoha would be a flood of blood and dead bodies.

Itachi shrugged. "If you must." His fingernail traced a path along the bowl. "And your information came from..."

"Zetsu." Amusement lightened his tone.

The name, and tone, was enough to tell him what had happened after. All five puppeteers had become a meal for their esteemed colleague. "So there weren't any clues?"

"Nothing beyond what we tell them." But then he shifted. "She did say something interesting though."

One eyebrow rose in silent question.

"She said, '_I am God'_," the Mist nin frowned thoughtfully. "That is interesting, isn't it."

Itachi kept his flash of surprise contained to the merest narrowing of his eyes, while Kisame gave voice to his thoughts.

"Haruno Sakura," he said slowly, "just who exactly are you?"

* * *

The trip from the Border to the actual Hidden Village wasn't the kind of trip you could make in just a few days. It would take a week at least, particularly with a political individual. Which was why, three days into the wait, he wasn't particularly surprised to see less and less of Kisame. The wait was lethal for more than one person in Earth Country. 

In contrast, Itachi remained inside, recovering the chakra spent sealing the last of the Tailed Beasts. And while the wait would have been put to better use sealing the next Jinchuuriki, the ninth, and last, was being pursued by their own Tobi all the way through Cloud Country. And, for Kisame's peace of mind, with Zetsu on standby. Since there was no need for the Mist nin to know exactly who--or what--the masked ninja actually was.

Of course, he was still trying to tell himself that this Haruno Sakura was probably suffering from an overinflated ego due to outdistancing everyone in her age range, and wasn't half as important as the Mist nin was hoping she was. Geniuses had a hard time being 'normal.' Calling themselves God wouldn't be very out of character for the breed.

But he still couldn't remember anyone who could qualify as a genius aside from that Hyuuga branch member. And the chances of a 'normal' person taking on that number and surviving were slim.

He almost asked Shisui, since the ghost had been more involved in village politics than he had, but kept himself back for two reasons. One, the ghost had made himself scarce for the past few days, and two, even if he'd been around, the last thing Itachi wanted known was that this Haruno Sakura had piqued his interest. Though Shisui had stopped working against him years ago, there was no sense in going of his way to make those interests known.

Especially since the girl would be dead in just a few days.

"She's close," the ghost whispered in his ear, phasing into existence into the center of the room.

He very nearly jumped out of his skin; his body settling for merely straightening. "How soon?"

"Soon," Shisui answered with the slightest shrug--the kind of gesture he used when he really wanted to be irritating. Time wasn't important to ghosts,_really_. His eyes moved to Itachi's face, and the urgent expression softened into wicked amusement. "You look exhausted. Don't you want to go to sleep now?"

"Now isn't the time for it," he said shortly, eyeing his companion warily. There really was no telling when the ghost would put him to sleep forcefully, and there was no real defense against it. "Where is she?"

Another shrug. What was distance to ghosts? "A few miles from the village's southern border. She's angry that the puppeteers were killed. Her injuries reopened several miles ago, and she still hasn't stopped to check them. She's practically carried Tokiwa the past few days."

"So you're saying that she's vulnerable right now." She had to be exhausted. There was no way an uninjured person could run that marathon without being ready to fall over. Itachi looked at the ghost again, trying to decipher his expression. "What was her relationship with the puppeteers?"

"Got me. All I managed to pick up was that they had a history."

One eyebrow rose. "Pick up?"

"One of them went ghost. Only managed to absorb a little information before he went out."

"Out?"

"Like a damn candle." Irritation marked his tone now. He started to pace--a discomfiting act for a ghost, since he didn't pace one, two, three steps and back, he flashed one, two, three _yards _and back, in absolutely any imaginable direction, until he'd appeared in every corner of the room. "Your man-eating friend eats ghosts, too. What are the odds."

"So you went to watch Zetsu tidy up after the Border debacle?"

"No." Now there was irritation, making the ghost move even faster. "I went after your Earth Country official, didn't I? The ghost went _to_ her. Ran to her screaming for help, told her that they were all dead, and then he went out. _After_ he said Akatsuki was the ones who killed them."

"Can people actually see ghosts? Talk to them?" That was something that he'd been wondering about a long time. Itachi could see Shisui easily enough, even when he could barely see anything else in any real detail, but he couldn't see anyone else. And according to Shisui, most people lived right beside ghosts without even noticing.

"When the ghost has enough emotional turmoil, yeah," he said. "People who are murdered, or die from tragic means--or even just if they just don't want to leave something--those people become ghosts. And some people--normal people--can see them. But usually it's just flashes, kind of disjointed; make you think you imagined it. Part dream, part nightmare."

"So what's your excuse?" Itachi asked, his eyebrow rising.

Shisui grinned reluctantly. "Yeah, it's different when you haunt _people_. If you're giving up your entire afterlife to haunt a person, they'd better be able to _see _you, don't you think?" But the smile faded as though it had never existed. "But most people, they usually only see their _personal_ ghost. Or _through_ their personal ghost--that's how you see other ghosts, by looking through your own--but this girl...she saw me. Looked right _at_ me. Scary."

"Scary, how?"

"A normal person sees a ghost that isn't there, they usually hunt 'em. And this girl, she looked like she wanted to _kill_ me."

"I see." And it would take him hours to go through that information. "How long until she gets here?"

The ghost shook his head. "You don't understand. She's _here_."

He nearly glanced around the room, held back just in time. Not that it mattered, since Shisui's eyes were faded, focusing on something distant; the rest of his body just on this side of here.

"Here," he said, and only vaguely heard the snap in his tone. "Where, here."

"She's here," Shisui said, and his voice was eerie. "She's just made it inside the village. Kisame's found her. Or maybe she found him. They're fighting."

The ghost was almost completely gone now. His teeth clenched as terror swam closer, beckoning with inky black claws.

"Shisui," he said sharply. "You said the south gate?"

In the emptiness, a flutter of assent.

He swore, long and loud, and grabbed his hat on the way out. If the girl was hunting Akatsuki, she might as well learn that they hunted in packs, and that she wasn't at all important in the scheme of things. Any second she was distracted was the second that she wasn't protecting her employer--a mistake that would prove fatal. After all, they had a job to do.

But most importantly, he wanted her dead for threatening what was left of the person who had once been, and always would be, his closest friend.

Finding them was no real problem--and not because it was impossible for the southern corner of the village to just get up and walk away. Whoever had found who several yards into the village, Haruno Sakura hadn't been able to push her way in any further than that. Kisame had effectively pinned her. And, judging her awkward silhouette, not only was the girl winded, the Mist nin had broken her arm.

But the girl showed no sign of surrender. When Kisame charged her with his sword, she dodged it only marginally, earning cuts and scratches from the rough blade, but standing straight enough to sweep a hand out, slapping his head with the back of her hand.

No point, he thought coolly. A weak slap like that wouldn't hurt his partner. And the blade would have already eaten what chakra she might put into it.

But his eyes widened when the power behind the hit actually sent the Mist nin into the ground, stumbling with his heavy sword. Kisame said something, but he was too far away to hear it; instead all he heard was the girl's cold laugh.

"Chakra?" She asked, voice a dangerous mix of acid topped with derision. "Who needs it?"

Immediately, he reassessed the situation. If that much power was actually _natural_...

No. No way.

If that power was actually natural, they just might have someone interesting here. Provided that the girl's fighting ability was above average. Provided that exhaustion and injury didn't lead to a fatal mistake in front of Kisame's sword.

But that question would be moot, since his partner was going to kill her. And he truly doubted the girl's power was equal to killing one of the strongest Akatsuki unassisted.

Kisame's blood lust was practically radiating off of him, visible even to Itachi, from several yards away, observing from the shadows. The hit had not only surprised him with its force, it had insulted him. The hunter still hungered, not just for blood, which he could have and had gotten all week long, but for the challenge of it. The taste of it, pouring, not from defenseless innocents, but from someone above that. The beast thirsted for the blood of Gods.

He ran, she ran, they ran for each other. Her with--there was a sharp glint in her fist that Itachi could only assume was kunai--and him with Samehada. There would be no question as to what the victor would be.

Up until she took the attack of Samehada with her injured side and arm, giving her back to Kisame as she jammed that kunai into the Mist nin's arm. She turned still, scraping her back, in a roundhouse kick that left her open enough to be caught by the ankle, thrown.

There'd been no real power in that kick, he noticed. Did she only have supernatural power in her arms? Or had she maybe allowed herself to be caught?

It was possible, he had to admit, since she used the throw as time to dive into her weapon's pouch, withdraw another kunai, and throw it unerringly at the shoulder joint of Kisame's other arm. But the Mist nin saw it, moved aside, swung Samehada in lethal swing.

End game, Itachi thought again. But no. The girl actually put her _foot_ on the blade, using the solidness of the swing to propel her higher into the air.

_Crippled herself_, he thought. Had to. She wouldn't be able to run away on just one foot. She'd saved her life now, only to lose it later. It would be a kindness just to end her futility quickly. There was no life in the air. Flight was just a heartbeat away from death.

_One heartbeat_.

For one heartbeat, he could see her face clearly, as if she was only inches away. As though his vision wasn't fading out, gray as dusk.

There was no surrender on that bloodstained face, nearly pretty in the twilight. No real fear. No true hatred, and very little anger. What pain there was on it was covered almost completely by a blanket of grim determination and self-worth.

_Was this the face of a God_?

For that one instant, he nearly hated his partner for the certain death of such a fragile creature. And was more than a little surprised when Kisame jerked to a stop mid attack, seeming to turn ghostly pale.

Haruno Sakura landed lightly on her one uninjured foot, in a crouch. And the spell was done.

_Genjutsu_? He thought in surprise. It had been years since any genjustu had caught him. If this girl was the first, her abilities were monumental. And she hadn't used her jutsu to attack--only to keep the Mist nin from attacking.

And that, he had to admit, was the hardest kind of genjutsu to counter. You defended against an attack. But this--touching the sensitive emotions to stir doubt in a person caught up in blood lust was almost as bad as a stab in the guts.

_If_ that had been genjutsu. There had been no seals. And she couldn't have any chakra left, after those hits from Samehada.

She was frightening.

Here he was, several feet away, out of her sight, watching her fight someone else--and _he_ wanted to retreat. Uchiha Itachi actually wanted to run away, something he had never been able to do, not even when he was a child.

Pure grit kept him from trembling. It was impossible, now, to doubt her claims.

She was here. She was real. She was angry.

And heaven help any who got in her way.

Slowly, carefully, he eased his way back, even further out of sight. But she didn't seem to be paying him any mind, both eyes trained on Kisame as her hand glowed green and she..._healed herself_. Surprise and doubt had him stumbling mentally. She was a medic nin. On top of everything else, she had to be able to _heal_, too.

_And regenerate chakra at terrifying speed_.

Were they absolutely sure that she wasn't one of the Jinchuuriki?

He slapped that thought aside. If there was one thing he was sure of, that was it. They had eight of them, and the ninth had already shown every sign of being Jinchuuriki, up to and including showing the Tailed Beast that possessed him.

But Jinchuuriki made more sense than God. At least they had rules, gave certain expectations. What rules did a God have, except for those they made up?

Sakura made a low, pained sound as she moved to her arm and the bones were forced to reknit. The deeper scratches on her arm and back faded considerably, but what there was of her foot was impossible for him to tell. Since she was putting her weight on it again, he assumed that it was healed well enough.

_Now_, he thought in Kisame's direction. _Attack her now, while she's distracted_.

But he wasn't telepathic. The Mist nin heard none of his directions, and simply let the girl finish healing herself to her satisfaction. Blood lust had finally dulled to a simple contest of ability, strength and will, where only one person would be the victor, and only that person would be able to walk away, in any condition.

Right now, it was impossible to tell who would win.

Slowly, the girl stood, removing a kunai from her pouch, tossing it up in pure showmanship reminescent of a cocky genin, and pulled another out. The tip of the second caught the loop of the first, spun it, and sent it back into the air as her other hand inched to the same pouch. Then the second kunai was thrown, the first was caught, a third was in her fist, and not only was Haruno Sakura chasing the thrown blade, she was _catching up_.

Kisame slid his leg back, thrust outward with his sword, deflecting the thrown kunai. And rocked sharply left and right, making the sword seem to slither, strike at the girl. There was no easy shift that could save her by inches now; she turned to run sideways, making a smaller target, and dragged both kunai against Samehada hard enough to make sparks. But it was impossible to get past the sword completely; its scales made that impossible. It caught her, prevented her from doing anything but hold on or die.

Clarity found him again; strengthened, sharpened. A flash of sight--crooked half-smile, eyes narrowed with effort and determination, and the thirst of a true challenge.

The Goddess had found her match, and Itachi felt like swearing in a sudden unexpected fit of jealousy.

He took a sharp step back, shaking his head to clear the smoke out of it. That spell had a completely different feel to it. She was deliberately provoking him, he had to admit that at least. The challenge of a contest of equals between her and the Mist nin had been allowed only when she was on the losing side. Now that she was in superior condition again, she wanted Kisame's goal clouded. Satisfaction, and the belief that he was superior, would make him sloppy.

Sloppy enough, he had to think, for her to stick her foot on that one discarded kunai, and use it to spin herself. She was too far away to touch him, and the position cost her what safety she'd had, blocking the sword. It only bought her an inch, and ended up disarming her--but she was close enough now to rush him underneath the sword. Her hands were in her pouch again; not for a kunai this time, but a set of explosive tags. She pressed one against the Mist nin's leg, used a fist full of cloth to yank herself up onto his back, and press another to the back of his head.

"Bang," she whispered in his ear, and fell away.

But she'd chosen close combat. Kisame didn't let her move away. If she wanted to decapitate him, she'd end up doing just as much damage to herself. She would get the kind of injuries that wouldn't heal come morning.

Kisame grabbed her throat and lifted her until they were eye to eye, the sharp edges of his sword against her bare back. The slightest move, or struggle, would sent it into her back, into her spine. A small twist of his hand would break her fragile neck.

Itachi was almost holding his breath, waiting to see what she would do. Once again, the choice was to let herself die here, or leave herself incapable of escaping. He was waiting, absurdly, for her to use her genjutsu again, to get out of this. To offer him just a glimpse of what was on her face at this moment, what was running through her mind as the pink-haired girl hung limply from her neck, not even struggling as she slowly suffocated.

Not even moving until, slowly, her hand came up and touched the arm of the hand that strangled her. But for that, you might think her already dead.

Her voice was level and clear, just loud enough for him to hear, even this far away. "Mice," she said slowly, and he blinked. Had she completely lost it? Kisame, judging by the sudden stiffening of his posture, was no less surprised. "Even the common mouse, if restrained, would chew off its own leg to reach freedom. _Don't. Underestimate. Me._"

Her hand glowed again, blue ridges shooting out of her fingertips, and she cut the tendons in the Mist nin's arm, forcing the blade to fall from suddenly numb fingers. That same hand moved to just over the Mist nin's heart, a second before his grip tightened.

And the explosive tag on the back of his head lit.

He dropped her like she was fire incarnate, his good hand immediately shooting up to yank that tag off of his head as the girl nimbly retreated in one long series of back flips, avoiding any contact with that dangerous sword. Something he would have been thinking about, had she not come to a stop right in the mouth of the alleyway he was hiding in.

Observing from.

Right.

He made a slight movement, and she glanced over her shoulder, and...

Green. Her eyes were green.

He'd always--as of five seconds ago, anyway--had a weakness for green eyes.

"_You're opponent is over here_."

She glanced away sharply as Kisame ran for her, wielding Samehada in his off hand. So the kunai she'd driven into his arm hadn't gone as deeply as expected. Not surprising, considering the man's reputation. Akatsuki was Akatsuki, and no one, not the Hokage's apprentice, not even the Goddess she pretended to be, would stand a chance in front of him. Countries would fall first.

"I'll deal with you in a second," she said, and after a surprised instant, Itachi realized that she was talking to him. Or assumed that she was, since with one hard punch down the ground exploded upwards, forming a solid wall of earth between them and the Mist nin. But it was no real defense. She crouched, already preparing to flee, but spared him another glance. "You aren't going to help him?"

He made a small shrug. "You aren't worth the effort killing." Especially, he thought, since she was running away midbattle. From a Mist-nin who would see nothing until he tasted her blood.

Not that he particularly blamed her, but cowardice was beyond contemptible.

The instant she took flight, running up that peak of earth, he'd already helped himself to the shadows, running for the edges of the village. The distraction had lasted more than long enough, and he had little doubt that Kisame would find the girl, wherever she ran. There was still Tokiwa. Kill Tokiwa, and the last of the Earth Country officials resisting Akatsuki power would surrender. They could always use another Mist Country.

Not that he'd ever particularly _liked_ Earth Country, certainly not enough to set it up as base of operations, but it wasn't him who'd be paraded around naming himself king and God.

* * *

**Note**: You can thank my brother for this chapter. For everyone who doesn't know, he moved in with his girlfriend late last year, bringing just a little more than the clothes on his back. Consequently, that means that he left his entire CD collection, which I borrowed when I found out that I'd have o write from Itachi's POV, hoping that they'd help me break into the Uchiha's head. I wrote most of this chapter listening to _Maroon 5_'s_Songs About Jane_ CD. 

It's 5:46am, I haven't been to bed yet, and I'm still two thousand words short of my deadline. You might say that I'm not in a very good mood right now. My (tenuous) hold on sanity has been preserved by the location of my brother's playing cards, and much loud music. And my Mommy, who is always there to listen to me complain about this (or any) story, even when I interrupt her reading just to get hugs and whine.

There are several things that I can say about this chapter. Like, how I didn't originally plan on Shisui to be _in_ the story, but since I'm not above cheap laughs and blackmail to help me finish a chapter, I decided that he could stay--and keep _this_ fic from being identical to a _SasuSaku_ one I was plotting. Also, writing the Kisame versus Sakura scene was a pain, especially the last half of it; I can't remember anything about his fighting style. I had to hunt down an AMV of his fight scene with Gai-sensei, and even _that_ didn't help me overly much.

Though I am kind of impressed that you read that entire scene. Don't you know that it's over ten pages long of almost pure fighting? And terrifyingly, unlike in my _Boys and Girls_ fic, this Sakura is pretty quiet in a fight. Huh. (And yes, Itachi has on-again and off-again psychotic episodes. Shut up.)

And there _is_ an actual reason for Sakura-chan holding her own against Kisame _with_ Samehada. I've been meaning to use it for a while, and you'll actually find out next chapter. (Actually, I have a lot of aces up my sleeves for Sakura's character; lucky for you, I'm not even using half of them.) But a lot of the other questions **Mistress DragonFlame** brought up in her review won't actually be answered for a few more chapters, until we get back into Sakura's head. You have to wait until the 22nd of next month for that.

Here's a hint for one none of you thought to ask: We know where Sakura-chan's team is, and why none of them are there with her. But the real question is, why isn't_ she_ with _them_? It's not because she was in Konoha.

Go on. Make a guess. Clues are scattered throughout the story thus far.

Thanks to** Mrs.UchihaItachi-hime**,** TeenageCrisis**,** Mistress DragonFlame**,** aznkitty180**, **Hiei's Cute Girl**, **midnight000shadow**,** dark Alley**, **lilcrazygurl**, **Alone in a Blizzard**, **shinenotenshi**,** Jen**, and **Regin** for reviewing!

Also, also, today is me Mommy's birthday. When you review, remember to wish her happy birthday, right?

(And has anyone else noticed this story editor thing eats spaces with alarming consistency? I'm getting tired of going over all of my stories with a fine-tooth comb, and still turn around and find spaces missing when I hit _Submit_.)


	4. Itachi: City of Illusion

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Part Three: City of Illusion

Tokiwa could be anywhere.

No one with any kind of grey matter whatsoever would take the person footing the bill along when you were looking for a fight. Not if the fight was with one of the most dangerous missing-nin in existence. Therefore, if she was any kind of opponent whatsoever, she'd have the old man stashed somewhere safe, and convenient--just in case something went wrong, and they had to get out, fast.

She wouldn't be familiar with the territory, and unless the Earth Country official was an outdoorsman--unlikely--there were only a handful of places they would know were available. Safe, easy to get in and out of, local.

Right. In Earth Country, you might as well be asking for a miracle. The only place harsher was Mist Country, and certain parts of Wind Country. Especially for someone green enough to be wearing a leaf on their forehead protector. But no one could possibly be green enough to lead the enemy straight back to the person you were paid to protect.

Precisely why Itachi wasn't following her. He had a good idea anyway. The canyon.

Huge, imposing. The kind of place you'd think last about hiding anything important, thanks to the season bringing flash floods, rock slides, and a few other troubles. It was the kind of place most people looked at as two-way, but for a ninja you could get in and out anywhere and any way, limited only by your imagination. And coincidentally, it was guarded almost twenty-four seven by skilled ninja, who'd make a lot of racket if they saw anything.

Perfect place to hide someone. He'd used it several times, himself.

And there Tokiwa was, exactly where Itachi had expected. Standing right there in plain sight with three uniformed men, in front of a campfire, cooking _rice_ of all things.

But why was he surprised? Considering the man was going to be dead in roughly twelve seconds, the man could be flying for all the difference it made.

One of the men made a disgusted sound. "I can't believe we have to cook that trash for her," he complained. "Runs like a bat out of hell all the way here, and then she says, 'You might want to stay here, boys.' Like we don't have anything better to do. And then, second you say something, she tells us to cook dinner for her. The bitch. And we aren't even supposed to have any."

One of the other guards glanced at him, for all the world equally exasperated. "Have you even tasted this stuff? Better than death my ass. My mother was a herbalist; I grew up in the kitchen. It boosts energy and chakra regeneration all right, but prolonged doses of this stuff can kill a man. Ask me, she can have all of this that she wants. I just hope her hand's extra heavy with the sauce. If we're lucky, she's dead by sunup."

But both men looked over their shoulder, for all their bravado terrified that she might have been listening.

Itachi's eyebrows rose. So that was how she had done it. That fit in with her being a medic-nin. Herbcraft was a part of medicine.

But, in glancing over their shoulder, the two men saw the faint movement of his cloak, red clouds barely lightening in the fire light. That, and the unholy look in his suddenly red eyes had them shooting to their feet, retreating several steps back with a muttered curse, putting their bodies between him and the Earth Country official.

That's right, boys. Here you face someone even more dangerous than that woman you were talking about.

And, in that tiny action, they'd all fallen right into his hands. If they could see him, they fit his needs.

His hand moved, and all three men turned. Hands reached out for the official, wrapped around the man's thick neck, heedless of the struggling and one dying man's terrified screams. And then, in a flash, all four men fell to the ground, and the person standing between him and his target was Haruno Sakura herself, green eyes narrowed in a glare that, without his Sharingan, he should barely be able to see.

He hadn't even sensed her.

"I should have known you were going to be stupid," she said in irritation, pulling another kunai from her pack. "I guess that it's lucky that I decided to follow you."

"You have more important things to worry about," he said, and used the sound of his voice, and eye contact, to bring her in to his genjutsu.

He almost didn't see the kunai in time. He caught her wrist, pivoting just a little to throw her off balance. There was no time to wonder now how the jutsu had failed to effect her. That would have to be answered later--and modified to suit anyone else who had this woman's particular abilities. For now, all he really needed to do was distract her until his partner caught up to them. Not very long; for all of Kisame's size, he was lightning quick when the situation called for it.

His foot shot out, catching her and sending her onto her back. But she didn't let him go; she dragged him down to the ground with her. For all of two seconds, his body pressed hers into the ground, holding her hands down, his legs trapping hers to keep her from kneeing him. He was rewarded by a headbutt with enough force to break his nose and bring tears to his eyes, and, thanks to his flinch, a good solid knee between his legs.

Greater men than he had cried for less.

She used his distraction to get out from under him, and, in the distance of consciousness, he felt her put the kunai under his neck. The cold metal woke him up when nothing else could have. But then she was gone, moving away from him quickly before Hoshigaki Kisame cut her in half. From the ground, he noticed several kunai sticking out of the missing-nin's back and legs, and smelled singed flesh and charred fabric.

He'd assumed that Sakura had run away. But now, he had to wonder.

The girl was still in significantly better condition than her opponent. She was winded, and her chakra had to be low, but all of her injuries were minor. And judging by her tone and posture, whereas Kisame was running on blood lust and adrenaline, she was operating with a cool head and pure survival.

"Sorry," she said, again dodging backwards from a swing, using her kunai to turn the attack further aside. "The location is too volatile to play right now. I'm going to have to get serious."

She was moving for the campfire.

Itachi stiffened. "Don't let her near the fire," he commanded, moving back to his feet. If what that guard said was true, they definitely couldn't let her near the rice.

The Mist nin was already running. But, judging from the two steps the girl made to the flame, there was no guarantee he'd heard--or understood the order. _Damn it_. He didn't want to even look like he was getting between his partner and the kill--that was a situation guaranteed to leave bruises on both sides--but he couldn't let that girl get her second wind.

He moved, quickly placing his body between her and her target, barely dodging the kick she aimed for his face. His taijutsu was a little rusty, but it delayed her long enough that her body was sent straight into Samehada. This close, it was easy to see her eyes widen and teeth clench as she took the hit, but miraculously wasn't caught by the sword's sharp scales. The swing sent her flying towards the bodies of Tokiwa and his guards, leaving her half sprawled over the Earth Country official. She twitched, but otherwise didn't move.

Itachi followed his partner over to the bodies, and looked down. All of them, Tokiwa and the guards, had kunai sticking out of them from vital points.

He'd thought that Haruno Sakura had been hired to protect them, but she'd been the one to land the killing blow. Exactly who was she really working for?

He turned away. Perhaps the more fitting question was, he decided as Kisame kicked the girl over to deliver the finishing blow, who _had_ she been working for?

"Goodbye!" Kisame yelled, and thrust his sword down.

A split second before her own hand moved, grabbing the thin case Tokiwa had been carrying, and putting it between her and the blade. A futile effort, he thought--but the case held, rather than broke.

Her foot shot up, kicking him back several feet, and then she opened her case, releasing a dozen spring-loaded blades that all shot into the Mist nin with enough force to go completely through his body. Itachi stared in shocked silence as the girl panted on the ground, a hole in her leg from where she'd put it up to keep Samehada's attack from hitting her vitals. Numb fingers fumbled for the glass vials in the case.

He moved towards her, intent on getting the case away from her before she used that vial on herself. There was no question what kind of mixture was in there. She had to have put something in there to boost healing action, recharge chakra, or give her some kind of an edge over Kisame.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

Her fingers finally found purchase on one of the vials, but he caught her wrist before she could inject. Her other hand slapped that hand away, was slapped away in turn by him.

"I can't allow you to use this," he said firmly, holding her eyes with his own.

Impossibly green, he had to think again, and almost pretty even when they were bloodshot. What were the odds?

She'd been impervious to his genjutsu, but how would she fair against his real kekke genkai?

He pursed his lips as the black pinwheels spun out in his eyes, reflected now in hers. "_Mangekyou Sharingan_."

* * *

It was a red sky on a black ground, where matter was inconsequential and time was only a dream. A world where he was the God, superior beyond question to the pink-haired child tied to that cross, who watched him with frosty intelligence behind her eyes.

"Without a doubt," he said quietly, voice echoing across the emptiness. "You're the strongest opponent that I have faced. Not many people can stand against Kisame."

"That's unsurprising," she said in return, voice surprisingly calm considering the situation. "His sword eats chakra, doesn't it? Most people don't exercise their taijutsu enough to hold their own, and on top of that, his ninjutsu is high class. He's the perfect person to babysit you, isn't he? Uchiha Itachi-san."

He was nearly impressed. "You know a lot, don't you?"

"Unfortunately for you. This kind of thing won't hold me." Her arm tensed, as though she were working against the cord. But it held, moving with her but not separating from the cross.

"It's no use," he said, and stabbed her with the katana that had materialized in his hand. She cried out in a gratifying way, trembling with the pain that would have been mortal had she been alive, and cried once again as the blade slipped free of her. Tear-filled eyes widened as a hundred copies of him appeared, each holding their own katana.

"It's no use," he repeated, hand pressing against her cheek to make her head lift up, look at him. "For the next forty-eight hours, you'll be continuously stabbed from these katanas. This is my jutsu."

"I see," her voice answered from behind him, and he stiffened in surprise, crying out himself as a katana stabbed into his back. His own arms were held up as a cross formed to hold him to it. The Sakura he'd stabbed walked away from her own cross, the restraints not even holding her.

"So you thought something like this would hold me," she said, moving to stand beside the other Sakura. His body was turned to face them, and he flinched again as another katana stabbed into him.

"How?" He managed, an instant before the next stab.

"The real problem your type has," the Sakura with writing on her forehead said, bending close as if sharing a secret, "is that you assume that every mind is alike."

"You never think that there might be two of us," the other continued.

They glanced at each other, reached out to hold hands. "_Big mistake._"

"For the next forty-three hours and forty-five minutes, _you're_ the one that's going to be continuously stabbed by these katanas," Sakura said cheerily, wiggling her fingers in a cheeky wave.

The one with writing on her forehead merely smirked. "That is, unless you know how to end your jutsu early."

And then he couldn't see them anymore, as his life, for now, was merely the emptiness, the timelessness, and his body on that cross as a hundred copies of himself stabbed him to pieces.

It wasn't his first time as target of this jutsu. Itachi held onto that thin shred of sanity like a lifeline, unafraid to let himself scream, and what people would call self-restraint, dignity and pride. It wasn't his first time. And unlike his usual straightforward torture style that only lasted a few days, Uchiha Madara had always been more sadistic, and creative enough to go on for several days. He only had to live through two.

Though it was a little ironic when his consideration and admiration for _her_worked in his _own_favor.

Was he really that much of an idiot?

He closed his eyes._Apparently._

Did it really feel like two days when his eyes were open again? All he saw was green eyes, both of them breathing heavily, neither of them very steady. His hand on her wrist was almost completely forgotten, and his hold was broken easily.

But the person she injected the serum into wasn't herself, but him.

An instant before he lost consciousness, slumping to the ground as her head shot up to study the Mist nin's rapid approach, he wondered why he hadn't seen through her ploy.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of cheerful whistling and the stirring of a wooden spoon, spinning lights the color of flame, and the sound of low voices. But, below that, was the whisper of sound running through his head, and then the thump as the spoon fell out of the hand and into the pot.

"Damn."

"Sakura-san, you said that you wouldn't have enough songs to make the journey," the voice that spoke was warm with amusement, "but every time I see you, you always have a different tune."

"Obviously, that is because I am a musical genius." He could hear the wicked smile on her face, picture her face as they both laughed. But, when his eyes opened, she was too far for his visual range to pick up more than faint shapes.

Which was disappointing. You'd think that he'd be able to see better, being dead.

"Haruno, the prisoner's awake," one of the closer shapes said.

"Really? Here. Why don't you come stir this for me?" He heard her before he saw her, resuming her whistling as she came over to stand over him. Her hand moved out, brushing against his forehead.

He immediately pushed away from her. "What are you doing?"

Her hand moved back. "Checking your temperature. The injection got dirty in the fight. It was so small, I didn't even notice until it got infected. Sorry about that."

His eyebrow rose. "Why would you be sorry?"

"Because it's impossible to interrogate someone when they're sickly and sleeping. Hand me that," she interrupted herself to command one of the men beside her. She took the bowl offered, and immediately the guard retreated backward, putting distance between himself and them. She lifted his head, bringing the bowl to his mouth. "Drink this. You'll feel better."

"So that you can interrogate me?" He queried, but drank. The soup burned like fire down his throat, flaming all the way down to his stomach. The pour was relentless, and her hand wouldn't let him turn his head to get away from it. So he drank until the liquid stopped, refusing to choke, and she set the bowl, and him, aside.

"What was that?" He demanded the second his mouth was empty.

She smirked. "Old family recipe. It might be best if you don't ask too closely what's in it. It's a restorative, to take care of the last of your infection. It also decreases melancholy, which is why it's good for people who've been hit by genjutsu. So don't mind the taste."

"'Don't mind the taste,' she says," one of the guards muttered, and snickered.

She showed no visible sign that she'd heard. "I'd have made something else, but that's what I was making for myself, and I don't trust any of them not to poison you."

"Why don't you?" He asked, rather than ask her why _she _needed it. The Mangekyou couldn't possibly have hurt her.

"Because it's too much trouble," she said, and shrugged. "Then I'd have to take it out, and I don't have enough chakra to go around wasting it."

"You said you didn't need chakra." That, he knew, he couldn't have misheard.

"So you heard that, huh?" She smiled wryly. "Well, that's only halfway true. What I meant is, I don't need to have chakra to use it. In my body, that is."

He frowned. "I see." He didn't.

"I'm a channel," she told him, and when he didn't get what she was saying, elaborated. "A conduit for chakra? See, people have chakra inside of them all the time, right? When they use it, it comes out of their bodies in the form they choose, and eventually dissipates. Kind of. It's more like oxygen becoming carbon dioxide."

His eyebrow rose. "I'm familiar with the idea."

"You would be." She rolled her eyes. "Anyways. For each person, chakra has a different feel. Color, texture, sentiment. However you picture it. It's _yours_, it grows in you, and some people can tell where you are because of it. You're familiar with the Hyuuga, right? They see chakra, so there's no point hiding from them when they're using Byakugan. But you turn your chakra off, and leave the lights out, they won't be able to see you."

"You became a channel to spy on the Hyuuga clan," he said, completely deadpan. "I see."

Another eye roll. She was almost starting to make that look attractive. "You don't become a channel, you're _born _one. And it's actually pretty rare. You have to do a lot of training to be able to fully dissipate your chakra into the air, or you just have an aura. But I'm the only one who can fully control my chakra outside of my body."

"It must be rare," he allowed, closing his eyes. "Since I've never heard of it before."

"That's because it's hard to diagnose. The only sure sign is great chakra control, but not everyone who has great control is a channel," she sighed. "It's not like it's hereditary or anything. Unfortunately."

"Who diagnosed you?"

There was a short pause before he felt her shrug. "My father. Channels have a tendency to absorb the chakra of other people and use it, especially in preliminary stages. So it was a risky talent for a medic-nin to have."

"I can imagine." If any of that was true, there was a definite risk in the profession. But there was one thing about that. "So you removed the threat by removing your chakra?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, but that's it in a nutshell. Are you going to ask why I'm not dead yet?"

Why lie? "Yes."

"Do I look dead to you?"

Impatience marked the question, so he opened one eye, flicking it from the top of her head down to the floor. She was pale, a little rumpled, and shook like she was on a caffeine high. "Actually, you could pass."

"Haruno, I fished your spoon out of the pot," one of the others interrupted before Sakura could do more than huff in exasperation.

She immediately sat up. "Which one?"

He jolted. "There was more than one in here?" He muttered a curse. "See, this is why no one ever wants to eat your cooking."

She pouted. "That's so _mean_."

He used the distraction to glance quickly around the room. All three guards, and that, unless he was mistaken, was Tokiwa's distinct shape. But, he noticed, the one thing there was no sign of, was his partner.

"Where's Kisame?" He asked immediately.

He didn't miss their sudden stiffness. Sakura's back was to him, hiding her expression, but she shook her head. "Sorry. He didn't make it."

Disbelief sharpened. "Sorry?"

One of the guards nodded toward her. "_She _punched a hole right through him," he said. And shuddered visibly. "Yanked that bastard's heart out and ate it. Glad I wasn't exactly conscious to see her do it. And when she had him cut up like that..."

His stiffened, aiming a quick glance to the girl in question. Intimidation techniques like that was common for prisoners, especially when you wanted them to talk. And Sakura had said something about interrogating him. "Is that right. Is that what Konoha's doing to missing-nin now? And can I expect the same treatment, once you've finished with your interrogation?"

"Cannibalism is actually still frowned upon in our Country, I'm afraid," she said with dignity, not bothering to answer the question. "But that's the problem with civilians. Over excitable. I heard that your type make rumors about kunoichi based on your own fantasies." She moved toward him, a sense of purpose in her step. "I'm not in Konoha now. How would you feel about being dinner?"

The man almost knocked over the pot in his hasty retreat from the room.

Sakura immediately turned to Itachi. "You've killed people."

"Yes."

"Would you say that a fist, filled with chakra, could theoretically punch through the breastbone, and thus the heart, and therefore leave very little evidence of said heart's existence?"

He inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Cannibalism makes a better story."

"Provided that your companion was in any way appetizing. No offense, but if I ever considered cannibalism, I'd probably prefer someone like you. Almost attractive."

He couldn't control the slight smile that wanted to form at her grudging allowance. "I'm flattered."

"Of course, it'd probably be impossible to find your heart, wouldn't it? Since you don't have one." She continued, and reclaimed her seat beside him.

"True," he agreed, and one eyebrow raised when she leaned in close to whisper to him.

"The next time you see him, tell your ghost that he doesn't have to hide. I already know that he's here, and his constant in and out is starting to get on my nerves."

He hid the surprise that flickered in his eyes by closing them. So she _could_see Shisui. He wondered why he'd ever tried doubting. "I'll make sure to tell him."

* * *

Itachi didn't try running away. He lie there on the pallet limply, watching his captors under his eyelashes, for all intents and purposes dead to anyone in the room. It made them feel safer.

He had no such illusions about his own fate. As soon as he was completely recovered--though he could only take their word that he'd been sick in the first place--Haruno Sakura was going to interrogate him. And there was no reason to believe that she'd let him live afterward. All probability hinted otherwise.

Yeah, "hinted"--with a full-scale marching band, complete with light show and enough candy to give cavities to half of Konoha. Oh no, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that she was going to let him go.

After all, she'd let Kisame go.

In sixteen different directions--all the while collecting the reward for killing a member of Akatsuki. Oh yeah, she was going to let him go.

Thanks but no thanks. He'd rather walk out of here under his own power. So he ate, and drank, only what she gave him, barely roused when she prodded him, and used every one of his skills to appear as out of it as possible. While still maintaining the dignity of his clan. (He'd never been very good at leaving behind the things he hated the most.)

Of course, if he'd ever suffered from the delusion of escaping while Sakura was out of the room or asleep, those idea were quickly scratched.

The girl didn't sleep. She sat on the ground, back ramrod straight, nearly always facing the fire, studying the flickering blaze under her own hooded eyes. She could sit there for hours without moving, until he showed any sign of being awake. She was at his side in an instant.

"Are you uncomfortable, Itachi-san?" She asked, tone both polite and even as her hand moved out to check his pulse, his temperature.

"I could ask you the same," he replied, attempting a restrained stretch. Hands tied behind his back, fingers kept separate and secure--not only did that make it triply hard to escape, he was starting to worry about blood flow to his extremities. Not that he technically needed that much movement to catch the guards in a genjutsu; now if only the girl was gone.

He worked some of the stiffness out of his neck before glancing at her. "Don't you ever sleep?"

Her lips quirked, slightly. "Not during missions. Not since I made Chuunin, anyway."

"Oh?"

"Because it's dangerous to fall asleep when you're alone in enemy territory," she said lightly. "As I'm sure you're aware."

"Even the most experienced shinobi work with a partner," he said. "Why are you alone?"

"Because my partner returned to Konoha to inform my superiors of my death."

He stiffened, more surprised than he thought he'd be, and immediately scowled at himself. There was no reason for her to be telling the truth--and frankly, the answer to his question strained all credulity. "Do you often lie to your superiors?"

"Didn't you, when you were my age?"

He nearly smiled at that. "That would be telling, wouldn't it? My reports are confidential."

One eyebrow raised. "So your honor system is as skewed as your moral compass. I must remember that. Aren't missing-nin not supposed to even care about national security?"

"Just because grass is usually green, does that mean there aren't any blue blades out there?"

She actually laughed, moving toward the stove. She pulled a riceball off of the plate and brought it to her mouth, taking a bite with only the slightest wince at the flavor. "Strange. When I read the report on you, I had no idea that you have a tendency to wax poetic. I should probably update the records next time I have a chance."

"Wouldn't that be difficult with Konoha thinking you're dead?"

Her smile was long and secretive, and she tilted her head, eyes closed in a deliberately guarded expression. "That would be telling, wouldn't it? Itachi-san." She laughed slightly. "Things are only as difficult as I care to make them."

That was a sentence he could definitely relate to. He'd been living it his entire life. But they probably had entirely different views on what would be termed 'difficult.'

She lifted the kettle off the stove, turning to rinse it out in the sink, then fill it with water before she replaced it on the burner. Then, slowly, she grabbed the collar of her vest and straightened it meticulously, tucking one leg behind the other.

"You're becoming more lucid," she observed, patting her vest again so that it fell in clean lines down her hips. She withdrew a narrow gold vial from one pocket, lifting it up into the light to get a better look at it, and quickly replaced it. "That's good to hear. How's your head? Headache? Fever?"

"Not my head, no."

She nodded slowly. "Good."

"Tell me," he said, more than a little wary of her sudden uncharacteristic silence. "Do you always treat people you plan to kill?"

"Actually, I have no intention of killing you." Her hands sought out the tea cannister, but she didn't immediately add it to the rapidly heating water.

His eyebrow rose. "Really. And my death would affect you, how?"

She shrugged. "It wouldn't." She finally set the tea to boil, and then went about getting the rice started. "Do not get mistake me, Itachi-san. Your death would barely delay me from accomplishing what I mean to do."

"So you lose nothing either way," he clarified. "Then why let me live?"

"Because I get paid to drag information out of that head of yours. Obviously. I have a contractual obligation that I'm obliged to see through."

He should have known. Once again, it was down to money. "Wouldn't you get more with me dead?"

"I never said you wouldn't die," she said, pouring salt into the pot and going through her spices at the same time. "I said that I have no intention of killing you. Two entirely different things."

"I stand corrected," he finally said. That put a different spin on things. "Wouldn't that mean the person who kills me gets the reward, then?"

"Not at all," she flashed him a smile over her shoulder. "Whoever kills you, I'm the one with the reward. It's win-win. Your brother gets your head, and I get the money--and your brother back."

"Sasuke." He really should have saw that coming. They were the same age, and both from Konoha. "Does that mean that he's not a Leaf nin anymore?" He asked, knowing full well the answer. When Orochimaru had been killed, there'd been no rumor of Konoha ninja doing the assassination.

"Unfortunately, he's less of one than your are," she said, and pulled out a bowl, throwing herbs and spices into it. She inclined her head at him. "You are still wearing your forehead protector."

"But you'll find I have no one running after me to bring me back home," he said, and nearly smirked, already anticipating her reaction.

"That's sad," she said instead, tone carefully guarded and nonchalant. "You don't even rate a lynch mob. Did you cry when you found out?"

This time, the smile did slip out, but one of the guards entered the room before the expression was witnessed. Tokiwa, standing behind him, took one long look at her, dicing vegetables and tossing the pieces into a skillet, and took several steps toward her. "You're still awake?" He demanded.

"Sure," she said simply.

He frowned immediately at the less than animated reply. "Is something wrong?"

She glanced at him, pasting on a wide smile that even Itachi could tell was fake. "Small headache. No real problem." She reached for another of the rice balls, but the guard caught her hand.

"If you aren't feeling well, you shouldn't be eating this! You're a medic-nin, aren't you? Listen to your body!"

"Fine, fine," she said, pulling her hand away. "It's just a headache."

"With all the chemicals you've been ingesting, it's a miracle you're still alive," the guard said. "So slow down and take care of your body."

"Slow down?" She repeated. "Really?"

She handed him the knife and walked away. The guard simply held it, turning to look at her. "Haruno?"

She grabbed her pack. "I'm going to bathe. Don't do anything stupid."

"Stupid?" Tokiwa repeated the instant she was out of the room. He looked askance at the guard. "Like what?"

The small flow of steady chakra had finally cut through the restraints. Itachi rotated his wrists, flexed his fingers, and sat up unassisted for the first time in days. "Something like this," he said, and at the alarmed look both men shot at him, he lifted one hand. They immediately fell to the ground. "Probably," he allowed, and turned off the stove.

He hesitated over the Earth Country official's body. Did he kill the man now, or leave him for later and write the mission up as a failure? There was always the chance that Sakura lied to them about taking a shower, and was only waiting for him to try to escape. But whether that was true or not, she was definitely guaranteed to come after him. It would suit him more if he had a lead on her.

So what he really needed was a distraction.

* * *

**Note**: Ugh...I really don't like how this chapter turned out...it was really difficult, and annoying, and every thing about it that I was giggling about "five minutes ago", after that five minutes were up, I was annoyed with it, and trying to figure out "What in the world are they saying that for? Sakura-chan wouldn't say that!"

Also, this whole pattern that I've fallen into? It completely sucks. Every chapter I've been writing is shorter than the last. This chapter is an entire 1799 words shorter than the first one.

Whatever. There's more spoilers for _Boys and Girls_ in this chapter. So you know, Sakura's mother in that story is also a "channel." However, in this story, it's her father who is a "channel." Her mother, who you will find out more about in Chapter 6, is something else entirely--by the way? Sakura-chan's Mom in this story? I completely love her. She kind of got screwed over, but she's a very important person to Sakura's character development.

In any case, next chapter is from Sasuke-kun's POV, which hopefully means that it should be easier, since I actually _have_ written from his POV before. (Don't bother checking my gallery; I think those stories all on my computer, still waiting to be finished.) And for everyone who was afraid of Shisui being gone for good, he makes a reappearance in Chapter 7.

I have a lot of interesting scenes coming up for this story, but first I have to get all of the players together. And then _I_ can have fun with it, too.

So, see you next week!


	5. Sasuke: Demon and Vengeance

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

Note: Okay, I admit it; I have no idea why Sasuke brought Suigetsu onto his team, aside from fighting abilities. But, you know, Sasuke can and does easily beat him there. So, I have regulated Suigetsu to the map guy. He's obnoxious like Naruto, but with a sense of direction!

Of course, I still see Sakura with him, looking at Team Hebi: "So we have a tall guy with spikey hair, an annoying loud mouth, and she'd be providing the estrogen. Tell me--were you maybe feeling a little home sick?"

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Part Four: Demon and Vengeance

_This beautiful world, like a painting;_

_Blood and death hide behind the sunset._

The quickest way from Point A to Point B was a straight line. That was plain, straightforward logic--simple, easy to remember, and once you got it into your head that didn't mean you had to walk around with a drill, grow wings or walk on water, it was a simple truth to live by. So when you came to that inescapable mountain, the real course of action was neither tunnel, wing or climb; it was to survey the land, pick most likely alternative route to that end, and then set up a dragnet to catch that fucking bastard you were hunting.

No problem--provided your opponent was deaf, dumb and blind, crossbred with a snail and in possession of at least one broken leg. Sasuke wasn't that lucky. Which was why, several weeks into the hunt, he was barely any closer to his brother than he had been at thirteen.

But hunger burned inside of him, a lion's wild roar. He was closing in. And for that, he would subject himself, not just to Orochimaru (thank God he was dead), but also to places he would rather never have to see again.

_Isn't it beautiful, Sasuke-kun?_

Determined, annoyed, he deliberately looked away from the sun that flickered behind leaves, turning the forest into a stained glass painting. The light source, he reminded himself logically, through the leaves, threw color that painted anyone that passed through the color of wood. There was no better place for a rogue ninja to hide.

The reason why, twelve years old and still adjusting to his new ability, he'd spent almost the entirety of his first time in Cloud Country with his Sharingan on, always looking in the shadows for the enemy. Back then, he'd looked at her like she was crazy, written up a mental note to keep an eye on Sakura before a missing-nin caught her in a surprise attack. She was the only one who could find beauty in a death trap.

Years later, well adjusted to the Sharingan and the other skills he'd picked up along the way, and with more than capable shinobi of his own behind him, he could appreciate Kakashi's opinion on the missions through the outskirts of Cloud. Keep your weapons sharp and close, your eyes sharper, and your mind fully operational. Assume the enemy is always nearby, and be prepared to strike at any time.

Karin, moving along right behind him, flinched. Her foot slid off the branch, stuck with chakra to the bottom of it, and then separated. He caught her before she'd gone four feet, then dropped her on a lower branch.

Suigetsu came to land on the same one, curious. "What happened?"

Rather than hang onto him, as Sasuke had been almost getting used to every time he went out of his way to help her, Karin was looking wide-eyed over his shoulder. Suspicious, he glanced back, but saw nothing except for Juugo, who remained on his own, several branches away.

She continued to look, then sniffed, face screwed up into a confused frown. "He's leaving," she said finally.

Suigetsu looked completely mystified. "Who?"

But he understood, glancing over his own shoulder. So Naruto have given up chasing him. That was strange. Not unwelcome, but strange. "I see."

"He's leaving with someone," she clarified. "And two others are staying behind."

"Which way are they going?"

Another minute as she focused her senses, frowning at the area he could only assume that the group had been. "Too soon to say," she said finally, "but it looks like they're going South."

Back the way they'd come, he noticed. But that didn't explain why he was leaving, or why the other two were staying put.

Not that it mattered.

He straightened. "Come on."

Karin followed him up, but then her eyes narrowed abruptly. "He's moving again," she said. "We have to hurry."

Since she was looking the other way now, Sasuke could only assume that she meant Itachi. One of these days, he decided, following along behind her, he was going to have to get her to use actual names. Not that it was particularly important, but at least it would keep the other two from asking "Who?" after her report.

After the sixteenth time that day, it was starting to get annoying.

Just a little.

He was just about to snarl when Suigetsu made the predictable question when there was movement in front of him. The sign he'd been expecting since early this morning, as a dozen ninja melted out of the trees. He caught Karin by the back of her shirt, yanked her out of the way of a thrown kunai, and ducked, himself, as Suigetsu leapt over his head, shouting a war cry.

"Don't kill anybody," he instructed sharply, and then, rolling his eyes, followed his companion into the fray.

They'd picked the wrong group to go after, but they'd figure that out soon enough. In fact, judging from the small number and rough uniform, not only was there a huge difference in their level of ability, but, if he wasn't there, it would have been a fatal one.

The fight--if you could call it that--lasted less than a minute, and luckily, when he glanced back, Juugo's skin was still clear, without any trace of the curse markings. But Karin was looking past him again, frowning. He raised one eyebrow in question.

"He's coming this way," she said after a minute.

"Who?" Suigetsu asked, turning to look around as if he'd missed someone.

He reached a hand out, laid it on the other man's shoulder. And then roughly shoved him off the branch. "Are you sure?" He asked quietly.

She nodded. "And he's in a hurry."

"Fucking bastard," Suigetsu muttered from the ground, tossing off pieces of the broken branch that had first broken his fall, and then simply hadn't wanted to leave his company.

Sasuke barely glanced down, as their chase continued. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, yeah," he found an acorn, threw it hard at the back of the former Leaf nin's head. It missed. Just typical. He got back to his feet, amused himself by kicking the groaning body of one of their opponents before he followed. "On my way."

* * *

Hours later, his brother was still heading in their direction, Naruto was still going the other way, and whoever he'd left behind still hadn't moved from where they'd stopped. It was nearly--just nearly--the way he wanted it. But he'd been working under less than ideal circumstances for a long time.

Just what the hell was ideal, anyway? Damned if he knew.

Though he could certainly live without the complaining children he'd decided to tag on to this little team. He knew he'd got them for a reason, but three days straight of complaints, short tempers and long arguments--with plenty of screeching thrown in to keep things interesting--was enough to have him wishing that Orochimaru had had a fondness for mutes.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Suigetsu demanded, voice loud enough to draw the attention of anyone within a five-mile radius.

Karin easily made six--seven, if they allowed for the echo. "Of course I know where I'm going! Do you want to do this? Why don't you lead the way, oh, wondrous tracker?"

"Look," he said, and pointed. "That way. See that way? That's Earth Country. As in, mountain range. Cliff-faces, rock slides. Monsoon season? Please. At least watch where you're going."

She aimed a glare at him. "What? You can't handle it?"

"And this coming from the girl who has trouble climbing a tree." Annoyance and derision were clearly marked in his tone. "Of course I can handle it. But unless you can fly, you might want to watch where you're going--before you kill yourself."

The glare instantly turned into a sneer. "Aw. I didn't know you cared."

"Would you two shut up?" Sasuke demanded, and unlike theirs, his was low, and ice-cold. "This mission might not necessarily be called stealth, but you wouldn't want the prey to hear us coming an run away, would you?" Or, just as likely, set a trap.

Actually, running away really was more likely. His brother hated doing things he felt unnecessary. Actually, he hated a lot of things, but especially doing things he felt was unnecessary. It was one of the few things they had in common.

Beyond their shared genetic traits, they were almost complete opposites. Aside from formerly being Konoha shinobi, having quite a few zeroes after their name in the Bingo book, no real sense of humor, and a decided lack of friends--by choice.

Or maybe they weren't. Maybe the only real difference was that _he_ wasn't a murderer.

And he didn't have the Mangekyou Sharingan.

But that was fine. He had youth, determination, and, finally, the power to kill his brother. What would he want the Mangekyou Sharingan for? Just because he was an Uchiha didn't mean he needed _all _of his family's gifts.

"Karin," he said, interrupting his own thoughts. "Update."

She barely faltered as her foot hit the next branch, propelling herself forward. "He's still coming this way. If he keeps coming at this speed, we have another hour, maybe two before he gets here."

"Suigetsu."

"He'll have to slow down soon, or change direction. That puts him pretty much at the boundary of Earth Country's rural area. He's about to hit the ranges; cut through the guard outpost."

"And where," he asked, "do you think he might go?"

"South. Maybe Southeast. East is unlikely, unless he has wings, and North's out of the question--unless you think he can waterwalk for about a month straight." He ducked under a low-hanging branch without breaking stride. "Unless he has a previous engagement in Konoha, or remembers leaving his oven on in Suna, I think we can safely assume he's going to be sticking to the smaller Countries. Maybe Grass."

"South," he repeated.

Suigetsu nodded. "Best bet."

"All right," he said. "Let's go."

"He's not slowing," Karin interrupted, obediently altering her course to suit them. "He's going..._down_?"

"Down?" He looked at Sasuke. "Was your brother maybe dropped on his head a lot as a kid?"

He just shook his head. Reminding his companions that Itachi was _older_ than he was would just be a pointless exercise. Suigetsu had a selective memory. "We aren't changing direction," he said firmly, readjusting. "We keep going for him."

He shrugged. "Sure thing, boss."

There was enough doubt in that to have his eyes flicking toward him. "Where is 'down?'"

"You mean, aside from up?" A shrug. "It's the canyon. Huge cliff face on both sides, large distance between--too big to jump across, even for someone like you. It's a death trap. When it rains, this time of year, it usually floods--and if you're in the canyon when it's flooding, you either drown, or brain yourself on a boulder boulder. And when it isn't raining, you have venomous reptiles, poison spike grass, and all kinds of other natural dangers."

Karin actually glanced up. "The sky looks clear."

"It _always_ looks clear. That's how you know there's going to be a _real_ downpour. Any second now, and the sky's going to turn black, and then the rain'll come. In _torrents_. And then, when it sweeps you away and you fall down the cliffs to your death, don't come crying to me, because I _tried_ to warn you."

"Don't you ever shut up?" She demanded, glaring at him.

Sasuke nearly reached up in an attempt to massage away his rapidly approaching migraine, back now from its quick coffee break. He held back, but it was a close thing, aided only by the twig-slash-branch that had somehow been blown clear off the tree he was running across. He dodged instantly, aimed a discreet glance around before deciding that it had only been the wind.

Suigetsu had been right. They were close to the cliffs. The wind was only _this_ bad close to the cliffs. Or worse, where the cliffs met the coast. There, it was positively brutal.

Which meant that the forest would be ending soon...

"How far?" He asked, ducking yet again.

All three looked at him, and then Karin glanced at Suigetsu. "He's moving South."

"If it doesn't rain, it'll be anywhere from four to six hours, depending on where he's going or what we come across," his shrug was audible. "If it does rain, we'll never catch him."

He flinched suddenly, Sasuke's glare affecting him like a stab wound, even when he couldn't see it himself.

"We'll find him," the Uchiha said, tone glacial. No one argued.

They slowed down when they made the cliffs, the trees breaking away almost immediately before the earth just _disappeared _for a sixty foot drop. Suigetsu led the way down, finding trails and ledges where they could rest, with Sasuke following on close behind, alternatively champing at the bit to go faster, and wishing that the other man would just fall to his loud, annoying, splatting doom already. Juugo was carrying Karin, which was probably the safest place for her to be--when the giant's sanity and control wasn't in question--thanks to his special abilities.

She sat there on his shoulder, complaining loudly about not walking herself, even though she'd been happy enough when the idea had first been brought up--after her last screeching decent down several feet of sheer rock, where the loose, crumbling sand made sticking with chakra next to impossible.

The two hour climb had added an extra three between them and Itachi, not helped at all by his group's nervous glances up at the sky every five minutes. Not that _he_ was looking.

Much.

He quickly moved his eyes back down, but not before he spotted the cloud. Small and high; clear, white and fluffy. No rain.

But, as Suigetsu said, that could quickly change. If there was one clear cloud, that meant that there had been water some place. And where there was water, there was more water; dark clouds would be on the horizon shortly.

And when they were, he wouldn't get them into that canyon without bodily throwing them down into it.

Always an option. He'd try not to get too much enjoyment out of it.

The cloud had caught everyone's eye, too. Everyone's voice evaporated; all trace of sound, beyond their footsteps and the skitter of sand as it was blown off the cliffs, aiming for their eyes with almost preternatural accuracy. Because he could understand, and sympathize, with the nervousness, he almost snapped them out of it. But nerves would make them less likely to make a critical mistake, and he could use the silence, damn it.

They moved on.

Lizards lay on rocks, sunning; small rock birds built clever nests in the cliffs; field mice ran, scampering for seed and grain. Slowly, his team relaxed; animals had a better sense for weather than most humans. If they relaxed enough to leave their homes to go about their business outside, there was no danger of rain.

It also meant that harvest was low, he noticed, watching the mouse scamper away once it noticed them, squeezing to hide beneath the shelter of a rock. This time of year, the mice should still have a full storeroom of grain to last the season. Something was happening in Earth Country, that affected the farmers if it hadn't specifically set out to target them.

National bankruptcy? Political upheaval? Or the merest change in cost and demand?

Either way, there was nothing he could do about it.

The wind had blown that cloud out of sight, leaving clear blue sky. The sun climbed high, declaring full noon. The ground cracked under their feet, a living testament to the rain that had and would bathe it, the instant wind blew clouds back onto the horizon.

Time dragged as their pace picked up, Suigetsu still leading. Juugo had set Karin down, and she ran alongside him, looking up at Sasuke every few minutes under long lashes.

He almost asked her what she wanted, but decided against it. There was no real reason to break the silence now, and without a doubt, any speaking on his part would lead to a reply, with would only incite more talking. And _then_ he'd be stuck again for hours with two people who wouldn't shut up.

Silence was a sacred thing. Right up there next to sleeping late on Saturdays. So long as silence was preserved, he would _not _be tempted into strangling one of his teammates.

Probably. There was a lot of stupidity out there that wasn't verbalized.

Which was why, the next time Karin glanced at him, he broke the no-speaking rule and said, "How far?"

Disappointment clouded her eyes until she looked away, the sun turning her lenses white. "A few hours, depending on what we go through. If the way into the canyon is anything like the cliffs here, it might be longer."

That wasn't good enough.

"The canyon's a little less steep," Suigetsu answered the implied question. "And there isn't a path carved into it. Easiest way down is to just run, and hope momentum doesn't give you any broken bones. And that none of the rocks you step on give way."

He knew without asking that the man hoped she did. And told himself it was very unprofessional for him to agree.

He immediately argued that it would be more professional to laugh about it. Which he wouldn't.

In public.

"Clouds on the horizon," Suigetsu said, interrupting his inner monologue. Sasuke immediately looked. Long and thin, high, and white; wispy, and with barely any form. "We should hurry."

He had absolutely no problem complying. But he made a mental note to remind his friend just exactly _who_ was giving orders on this little expedition. You had to make a precedent for that. And he had no intention now of giving up his position.

He had no intention of playing second fiddle when he killed his brother.

* * *

Hours later, the sun was way down in the sky, and Itachi was winded. He finally slowed down, after running top speed for the better part of the day.

Obviously, he was out of shape.

Their team continued running at high speed outside the canyon, but only because it was dangerous to descend at night, and they'd make better time staying topside until they were closer to the target. And as soon as night fell, it would be that much harder to keep an eye out for dark clouds. There had been one earlier today, and they'd all held their breath until it finally whisked itself away over the horizon.

On the bright side, the cliffs were windy, so it had gone away relatively quickly, without spilling a single drop of rain.

He almost wished it would rain, just so they wouldn't have to hold their breath anymore. He'd be more than willing to jump into that canyon, and let its momentum take him to his brother. Danger was immaterial.

For the seventh time that day, there was movement out of the corner of his eye, and for the seventh time that day, he looked. A flash of gold, a gleam of pink.

_Hey, Sasuke, where you goin_'?

_Ugh. I hate Earth Country, don't you_?

Identical smiles that disappeared in an instant, leaving emotions churning in his stomach that he'd been working so hard now to forget. Become disassociated with. Why had they come after him? (Why had they given up now, after chasing him so long?)

'Why' was a question no more benevolent to him now than it had been when he was a child. No one would give him the answers he wanted--and when they did, there was no real clue to whether or not the answer was the truth. It was empty. _He _was empty.

And he was going to stay that way.

"How long?" He asked, trying to distract himself with the task at hand. The sun had turned the gold of sunset, sinking lower and lower over the horizon, a pair of orange clouds floating right next to it.

Karin panted. "We're getting closer. If he maintains this speed, we should catch up by dawn. If he takes a break, it'll be sooner."

If Itachi took a break, so would they. Sasuke wasn't an idiot, and they'd mutiny if he insisted on running while his brother rest. The tracker-nin would point him in the wrong direction just for spite. She hadn't come right out and said it, and suggested otherwise, but he'd seen the look on her face; recognized the exhaustion that affected every aspect of her body's movement.

And hell, rest wouldn't kill him. The wait might, but the rest wouldn't.

He nodded, silently wishing for the ability to be rested while closing that gap against his brother. "Let me know when he stops."

"Okay," she said, and kept running.

She really was admirable. He had to admit to that, if nothing else. After spending so much time in that lab doing research, she couldn't possibly be in the best of shape, and she'd pushed herself harder than most people would have so that she wouldn't slow them down. She also thought on her feet, and was considerably skilled in combat. Even if she wasn't a tracker-nin, he'd have given her a second thought for his team--which said something.

By the time the sun set, his brother still hadn't slowed down, and he started to become slightly worried. Karin was stumbling, but stubbornly kept going on. Suigetsu was running on pure adrenaline, which was bound to leave him in a heap at any moment. And Juugo, who was more suited to the strain, was even starting to slow down, sweat pouring down his body.

Sasuke kept his pace with some determination, refusing to allow the stumbling, or the exhaustion to make him more clumsy. Or clumsy, period.

One thing he'd learned as a child was to uphold the dignity of an Uchiha. You don't cry, you don't scream, and you don't lose--to anyone. Anywhere. At any time. Under any situation.

Words to live by.

Of course, his brother had taken that edict to heart as well.

"He's slowing down," Karin panted after a long minute, and immediately, Sasuke dropped to a walk. After a few more uncomprehending strides, his team followed his example.

It was important, he remembered, that after running, if complete stillness wasn't a necessity, to let your heart rate drop down to normal before resting. And the best way to cool down after a run was by taking a walk.

They continued to walk for another hour before, finally, Itachi stopped running. Sasuke sat down.

"Two hours," he said. "And then we go again."

"Thank God."

Karin nearly collapsed, but the other two followed his example more slowly, and received far less bruises by being careful where they fell down.

As the two more vocal team members groaned about their sore muscles, he shook his head. He could appreciate, he could sympathize--but he wasn't about to change anything once the two hours were up. From the way his brother had been in such a hurry all day, he was bound to be ready to move again by the time those two hours were up. He wasn't about to fall behind.

Slowly, Suigetsu reached for his water, taking a long sip in an attempt to rehydrate himself. Juugo turned his face up to look at the sky, immediately searching for the newly appearing stars. Karin did not move from the place she fell, nearly completely still, except for the breathing.

Sasuke breathed slowly, rubbing his eyes. And was thankful for the break.

Better to be well rested, he thought, if he was chasing after his brother. Whether or not his brother was as well. Even a person with as much stamina as Naruto would be hard pressed to win against someone fully rested after a day and a half running all-out.

It would probably be easier to relax if he stopping using his Sharingan for five minutes.

He breathed in an attempt to fortify his willpower, and closed his eyes. He was too tensed to turn down the ability manually, not right now. He saw chakra moving under his eyelids, and nearly sighed, simply watching for a long moment. And had a moment's true pity for the Hyuuga clan, who probably saw things like this all the time whether their Byakugan was on or not.

Slowly, the chakra drained from his eyes, and when he opened them again they were black instead of red. He exhaled.

And there was Sakura standing right in front of him, smiling that same annoying smile that almost made her look pretty in the moonlight. He sat straight up, and stared at her.

_Sasuke-kun, I'm here to relieve you. _

She wasn't real. He held onto that thought ruthlessly. He'd seen her as she was now, and the girl smiling down at him, suddenly fading away like a mirage, had looked around twelve.

He could really do without ghosts of friends following him everywhere. He thought that he'd be well rid of them here; Sakura hated Earth Country. But apparently not.

But he'd drawn his companions' attention. Suigetsu looked around warily. "What is it?"

Determinedly, he looked away. "Nothing."

Slowly, Karin lifted herself to her feet. "He's moving again," she said.

Sasuke pushed himself to his feet. "Let's go."

Itachi was moving, but it wasn't at a sprint, by any means. It was more along the lines of a mad scramble, and his chakra reflected his exhaustion. But if that was true, Sasuke couldn't see any reason for Itachi to be moving so quickly.

Or so alone.

His head shot up as a thought struck him. "Karin," he said. "You're sure that Itachi's alone?"

She glanced at him. "Yeah. I'm sure."

"Don't you think that's a little weird for Akatsuki?" He asked. "Don't they usually have a partner?"

"He has a point," Suigetsu admitted. "Where's Kisame?"

She frowned, looking around quickly. Several moments later, she shook her head. "I can't find him."

A cloud went over the other boy's face. "So he's dead." He laughed a little, but there was no real humor in it. "Wonder who got him."

Sasuke looked at him quietly. He knew how much Suigetsu had wanted to be the one to bring the Mist's Akatsuki member down. He could only imagine how disappointed his companion was--after all, the circumstances between them were far too different.

"If Itachi's running," he said instead, "we can only assume he knows that someone is chasing him. Find out who."

All three looked sharply at him as he gradually started to speed up. "Where are you going?" Juugo asked.

"I'll be back," he said. "If you see anyone else, keep them from interrupting. This is just between us."

The others stopped running, skidding abruptly to a stop. "All right," Karin said.

"If it starts raining, don't be an idiot," Suigetsu called after him. "Just get out of there."

He didn't bother replying, simply leapt into the canyon. And then he really started running.

He could only take their word on the canyon's narrow path. If on the off chance Suigetsu was wrong, and the canyon did branch out--or the treacherous walls lost their steepness--or in the months of his captivity, someone had come along and had a path cut out--they would be delayed.

Delayed, maybe. But not defeated. If he was already this close, there was no reason at all for Sasuke to fail now.

Although, interrupted his inner cynic, there was still plenty of time for that.

As always when that voice spoke up, his eyebrow cocked, an immediate, instinctive denial of childhood cowardice. If he ever listened to _that_ voice, he'd be living under a rock right now. A living testament of his breed's failings.

If he ever listened to _that_ voice, he wouldn't be looking at his brother's back right now, as the Akatsuki scrambled, cloak askew. So unlike the brother he'd known that for a second Sasuke thought that he'd found the wrong person.

At least until Itachi spun around sharply, caught sight of him, and visibly composed himself--a shrug-off that had been the main feature of his childhood.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said slowly. "So you've finally caught up to me."

"Uchiha Itachi," he returned, hand moving smoothly to his katana. "I've come to kill you."

Unexpectedly, his brother smiled, a faint shadow of his past smile that showed nothing of the demon inside. "So I've heard." One eye scanned the area behind him before resettling on Sasuke. "You're alone."

"I don't need help to finish this."

"And I don't have time to entertain you," was the immediate response. Itachi lifted one hand, and paused, glancing at the hand and then him. He ground his teeth. "I'll have to kill you quickly."

"That's my line," Sasuke said, and charged.

"_Hold it_."

* * *

**Note**: Ugh! No excuses, no excuses. This chapter is really, really late. You know, I told **Hiei's Cute Girl** that I would be updating this chapter, along with the next, on the 15th, right? Because I was only 2000 words into it on the 8th. But then I got distracted by rabid plot bunnies, and I had to tackle those story notes before they disappeared into the nexus, and I'm over two weeks behind on my deadline!

Whatever. This chapter, it isn't 7000 words, and it's shorter than the last one, on top of that. (What happened? I could have sworn that it was longer than that...)

Oh well. I finally actually semi-like one of these chapters, so I guess it can be short. There's a lot of talk in the next one as well, so I may or may not finally break this downward spiral I seem to have fallen into. Under 5000 words! Unacceptable!

Eh. While I'm here, thank you **TeenageCrisis**, **dark Alley**, **Hiei's Cute Girl**, **aznkitty180**, **Ita-ta**, **HinataHyuuga211** and **akatsuki's hikari** for reviewing--though could you all please do me a favor and quit saying "It's okay to not have a lot of words"? I know that it's okay, but it just isn't acceptable! If I can't be proud of a story I'm writing, I shouldn't write it, and I want to make and finish a tight, well-grounded story that's 140,000 words long! And right now I'm only at 29,510. I can live if it's under that number, but not making even 100,000 words just is beyond reason.

_Sigh_. So, in the next chapter, we see Sakura-chan again. And we answer **Hiei's Cute Girl**'s question on what Sasuke-kun thinks of the much-altered Sakura. And we answer a few more questions none of you have thought to ask yet. (Why aren't any of you asking? This is really upsetting!)

And since I want to catch up before this month is out, next week we should have more than one chapter ready for you. Unless I get distracted again...

See you next week!


	6. Sasuke: Twilight of Pride

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

Note: Actually, I kept trying to figure a way to fit this into a "Note" earlier, but as **Ita-ta** asked, here we are now with the Timeline--as in, where this fits into canon. It doesn't. This is assuming the marathon run for Sasuke, chasing Itachi, lasted a lot longer than it did--months longer. I couldn't make it any closer to canon than that, since when I started the story, Sasuke and Itachi were already in their huge epic fight _and I'm not going to write Sasuke-kun dying, ever_. (Thank Kishimoto that he lives.)

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Part Five: Twilight of Pride

Itachi flinched at the voice. Sasuke stared at his brother's expression, vaguely detached, as both of their heads turned simultaneously to witness the one speaking. Standing there, a mere foot away, long red vest fluttering in the breeze, was a face he hadn't expected to see in material form for quite some time. Frosty green eyes looked straight through him, and locked on his brother.

"Sakura," he said coolly. "Don't interfere."

Her head cocked. "I should say the same to you. Sorry, but I can't let you kill him yet." She took a step closer. "He has information I want."

Disbelief and annoyance had him putting himself between her and his target. "He's _mine_."

She caught his wrist where he'd grabbed onto her arm. "He knows who killed my father," she said, green eyes focusing now on him for the first time. "I want a location, and this bastard's head on a plate. If anyone gets in my way, even if it's you, I won't forgive it."

The memory of him saying something similar, years ago, had him hesitating long enough for his brother to speak.

"Your father?"

"Yes." She didn't even glance at him. "Your friend Zetsu killed him. I want to know what he looks like, and how I can find him."

"Impossible." There was no hesitation in the elder Uchiha's voice. "He's too fast to track, and he's unparalleled at blending in with his surroundings. Even if you found him, you'd be dead before you could blink."

"I don't believe that was the answer to my question," she said mildly. "Did that sound like an answer to you?"

He made a small sound, partly voicing his agreement, but mostly just voicing his annoyance at the unexpected, most annoying delay in existence. "I don't have time for this."

"_You _don't have time?" She repeated, and then tensed abruptly as a streak of wetness hit her arm. Within seconds, rain began to pour. She sighed in disgust. "I can't believe this. I _knew_ that this was too easy." She threw her head back, and started to yell. "_PEIN_! Dammit, you son of a _bitch_!"

Since she'd just screamed in his ear, he resisted--barely--the urge to send her into a wall. If only because then she'd be unconscious, and he'd have to worry about her drowning.

Which was even more likely, as the rain merely started to grow stronger.

Though really, who the _hell _was Pein?

"So you are familiar with the Leader then," Itachi noted, sounding cool and unruffled even with the rain shooting directly into his face.

"Who do you think made me a God in the first place?" She asked and, with grim determination, pried Sasuke's hand off of her wrist. She immediately withdrew a syringe from her kunai pouch, holding it like a weapon.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, irritation rumbling yet again under the surface.

"Knocking your brother out, so he can't use the opportunity to escape," she answered immediately. "Why? Do you know any jutsu that can turn off the rain?"

"Only one syringe left?" Itachi queried, leaving Sasuke to wonder about the amusement in his brother's voice.

"Actually, I have three." She smiled. "But you won't be alive long enough to require all of them."

His smile was equally soulless. "You continue to underestimate me."

"You're old, more than half-blind, with second-rate genjutsu and your taijutsu is more than a little rusty," she said mildly, and earned a sharp glance from Sasuke for the effort. "How long did it take before I had you flat on your back last time? Maybe twenty seconds? And you fully rested, and knowing my moves beforehand."

"Then allow me to take a page from your book," he said, pulling something out from under his cloak. He had a second to identify that something as a rice ball, and then it was unceremoniously shoved into his older brother's mouth.

Sakura swore. "He stole one of my rice balls," she murmured for Sasuke's benefit. "The equivalent of ten hours' sleep, and two hours of increased chakra recovery. And a year's worth of rapid cell growth."

He nodded slightly, catching the implied question. Back her up. Sure, he could do that.

In another _lifetime_, maybe.

She blocked his attack as if she'd been expecting it, and attempted to drive the syringe into his arm in the opening he'd left. He caught her wrist--and maybe didn't expect her to grab him right back, and throw him into the canyon's stone wall.

He landed on his feet, using momentum to springboard back to where Itachi and Sakura now grappled for custody of that syringe. And could only wince in complete sympathy at the force of the knee she sent between his brother's legs. He didn't move, but his grip had loosened just enough that she could turn her wrist in his hand, grab hold, and break the bone.

Which was apparently enough of a distraction for his brother to not only acquire the syringe, but inject it into her arm. She immediately collapsed, and didn't get back up.

He used the opening to strike, interrupting the killing blow he _knew_ Itachi was about to deliver. His brother blocked the kick, forced him back. And _didn't_ break Sakura's neck, pursuing him across the ground in already ankle-high water.

If it ever reached their knees, they'd be hard-pressed to get out. Especially since the wind was getting sharper.

"So you aren't working together," Itachi observed, deflecting another kick with the back of his good hand. "That's surprising."

"Why?" He aimed an elbow at his brother's neck, accepted the shove he received an instant before connection, and formed the hand seals for a Katon in midair.

And all right, maybe he hadn't expected the jutsu to necessarily _hit_ the target, but he definitely didn't expect Itachi to not only dodge the blast, but pull Sakura out of range, too. There was already several layers of suspicion in their relationship, since they knew each other, but Itachi wasn't the good guy. Why would he help anyone?

He watched him reach for the wooden case pressed against her side, and had to assume that was it. In one smooth motion his katana was drawn, then thrown.

It landed in the inch of space between his brother's hand and the case, and sparked menacingly. At his sharp glance, Sasuke waggled one finger in a chiding gesture vaguely reminiscent of Kakashi. He might only have the vaguest idea of what Sakura kept in her case, but his brother wanting it? Could only mean bad things.

The case fell and disappeared beneath the water, that had gone way past their ankles now, already covering more than half of Sakura's head.

Would she wake up before she drowned?

"Obviously," Itachi said, shaping his own hand seals. "Didn't she capture me in the first place to give to you?"

He stiffened in the middle of the last seal, and fell over abruptly.

"That's far enough," Sakura said coldly, rising out of the water. She caught Itachi before his face was submerged, and shook her head, removing a syringe he hadn't even noticed her use. "Idiot. A shot of adrenaline will knock you out if applied to the right place. You think I'll make things easy for you?" She stooped to pick up her case, and aimed a smile his way. "Thanks for distracting him."

He glared at her. "What are you doing?"

The smile widened. "Getting us out of here before the dam gives out. I don't feel like dying today, do you?"

"A dam?"

"Just over an hour that way," she gestured upstream. "It was already crumbling when I passed it. There aren't any nearby crevasses big enough to hide more than one of us when it breaks, so we need to get topside, and fast."

Suigetsu hadn't mentioned a dam. "A recent addition?"

"Constructed yearly by overambitious farmers who want water for their crops. If the dam ever stayed up through the rainy season, they'd be set for the hard months, but they don't know anything about building one."

She'd know, of course. "I see."

"So do you want to go up first, or should he?"

He looked at her sharply. "Excuse me?"

"I'm going to throw you," she said patiently. "The walls are too crumbly to climb out, even with chakra, so that's the only way out. Now do you want to go first, or should he?"

He didn't even want to know where she'd gotten the strength to attempt throwing anyone, especially not up a slope this steep, but if those were the choices...

"Him." If she threw him high enough, he would be able to transform to Level Two and fly to wherever his brother landed. So there really wasn't any problem.

She exhaled. "There goes my stealth mission." Methodically, she lifted his brother, planted her feet. Took a deep breath. "_DAMMIT_!"

He watched, Sharingan red eyes narrowed to see in the darkness, as Itachi disappeared above, getting over the top of the canyon with the barest inch to spare.

"I can throw higher than that," Sakura felt obliged to say, "but I didn't want to jar him awake without breaking both of his legs first. You'll want on the same side?"

The question surprised him, just a little, even while he could agree with the sentiment of the previous statement. "Yeah." He glanced at her. "And you?"

"Unfortunately, I can't jump that high. I'll find shelter, and meet you in the morning. Just leave your brother alive enough to answer a few questions when I get there." She stooped down, made a stirrup with her hands. After a moment's hesitation, he set one foot there--and promptly shot off with all the force of a rocket.

Well, who'd have guessed it. Little Haruno Sakura had finally gotten a little stronger. The world really was ending.

* * *

True to her word, the dam collapsed, flooding the entire canyon fifteen seconds short of an entire minute after he had landed outside of it. He wondered, idly, if he should be surprised. Sakura had always been reliable before.

He couldn't remember seeing any crevasses when they were below.

Was she okay?

She was okay, right?

Stubbornly, he looked away from the water, turning his attention to his brother, who had yet to stir at all. He looked almost peaceful, almost normal--almost like a real brother, not the murderer he was known to be. Had there even been a reason for it? Was everything he'd been a lie? Everything that had ever been important to him when he was younger--none of it had been real?

Asleep like this, it would be so easy to kill him, and put this part of his life behind him forever.

_He knows who killed my father_.

"Shut up," Sasuke said sharply, trying to blot out the look on her face. Trying to forget the expression on her face that was a mirror of his own. Forget the ease that she had shown breaking bones, and stealthily attacking his brother from behind. She was terrifying.

She was a reflection of himself.

_If anyone gets in my way, even if it's you, I won't forgive it._

He ground his teeth. He wasn't looking for forgiveness. He owed her nothing.

Helplessly, he watched as a large tree was washed down the canyon, crashing against the edge hard enough to snap a branch off. There was no chance whatsoever that she could still be alive.

But he had Itachi. What difference could a few hours make?

"All right," he said impatiently. He looked around, and decided sullenly on an outcropping of trees several meters away. It wouldn't do much in the way of shelter, but they were already soaked through; all that was really required was something to slow the rain down.

But come sunup, rain or shine, he was killing his brother. And nothing she said or did could or would ever stop that.

Provided she was still alive.

* * *

Without looking, he could tell the exact time Itachi woke up. His eyes didn't flicker open, his breathing didn't change from its slow, steady pace; he neither tensed nor moved. But he was awake.

Sasuke kept his eyes glued to the horizon. An hour left, maybe two, before sunrise. But though the rain had stopped hours ago, there was no sign that the water had slowed any since then. There was no sign of life down there.

"What are you waiting for?" Itachi asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Good question.

"You won't have a better chance than this."

Very true.

"If my objective was to kill you in your sleep, you wouldn't have woke up," he finally said. Since that only made his brother smile, one eyebrow rose. "Why was her father killed?"

Itachi didn't even pretend not to understand. "Who knows?" He gave the barest impression of a shrug. "Maybe he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, maybe he saw something he shouldn't. Maybe it was orders. Or maybe Zetsu just got hungry."

"He's a cannibal." Well, _that _wasn't something he'd been expecting.

"You left me alive to ask about your friend's father," his brother mused. "That's interesting. Who is she to you?"

"No one." Not anymore.

"Really? You seemed familiar with each other."

"That was a long time ago."

"I see." Again, there was an unreadable expression on his brother's face, and the merest trace of a smile. Bizarrely, he hated the expression. "She's an interesting person."

"How so?" His tone was carefully neutral, betraying nothing of the tension he was feeling. He was getting tired of the subject.

"You haven't noticed?"

Ah. Itachi was as bored with the conversation as he was. Every hour it'd taken learning strong-and-silent-ese had been well spent. That was good to know.

His brother looked away quickly. Immediately, Sasuke's eyes followed, flickering first to the canyon and then looking for anything else in the distance. A second later, he noticed a shadow that, at that distance, could only be someone of significant height. Juugo. His team was coming.

(What the hell had Sakura been thinking, _half-blind_? In exactly what way was Itachi blind? It was impossible to even think such things.)

"Friends of yours?" Itachi queried.

"No." (What were friends for?)

_You're my best friend!_

An left hour to sunrise.

"Not really."

It was possible now to recognize Suigetsu and Karin walking beside him, all three rushing to his side as if he even wanted them there. Sasuke looked away sullenly. He definitely had to try teaching them something about following orders. This was ridiculous. Exactly what had he said that made them think this was okay?

And he hadn't even killed Itachi yet. Surely they were wondering what was going wrong. Ah. They were coming to the rescue. How amusing.

He should kill him before they got here. The last thing he wanted was to have to listen to Suigetsu's mocking him about this. But first...

"Where do I find this Zetsu?"

Itachi looked at him, and he could swear that there was amusement hovering in his brother's black eyes. "You're going to find her father's murderer for her?"

The question shocked him for a second. Was that really what he had been planning? "No," he said, firmly denying the question. "I merely intend to relay the information."

"Right." The smile was immediate, blank and empty. "I have no idea where you can find him. We may work for the same organization, but we aren't very close."

"I see," he finally said, and his hand moved to his katana.

Until a hand moved to rest on his shoulder. "Why don't you let me?"

He watched Sharingan flash into his brothers eyes, realizing with the clarity of his own vision that his own eyes had gone through a similar change. He didn't turn to look at the owner of the voice, knowing full well exactly who it was.

Sakura glanced up at the sky. "I might be a little early, but I hurried. I was expecting you to move to a more secure location. Well--as secure as Earth Country gets."

Personally, he'd almost never even seen a place more boring than Earth Country, with an almost severe lack of outlaws, so he had to wonder exactly what her measure of comparison was.

She made a small sound that could have been a laugh. "Why are you so surprised, Itachi-san? Didn't your guard dog tell you I was coming? Or did he miss me as well?"

"I assume he thought you were still in the canyon," his brother said stiffly. Sasuke's eyes flashed away from the hand Sakura had yet to move from his shoulder to look at him in surprise. He hadn't mentioned where she was. How did he find out? "How did you get out?"

"Remind me to tell you one day how I infiltrated the Great Takimoto Ruin in Cloud Country," she said, and then promptly corrected herself. "Oh. Wait. That's right. You won't be alive, will you? Bad luck."

"One of the hundred and one adventures of the Legend of Haruno Sakura?" Itachi queried in good humor, one eyebrow raised.

"Only a minor one. Twenty men. Nothing worth writing home about."

"Twenty men and a supposedly impenetrable fortress," he found it necessary to correct her.

"Guarded with half-assed traps, half-blind archers, and a couple hundred tons of mountain with handholds you could fall asleep on. Impenetrable. Hah."

"You climbed out," Sasuke said, and surprised her enough that her hand fell. Before he could tell her to go away and never touch him again.

"Wouldn't that be telling?" She ambled closer to Itachi, and sat down in front of him. "Close your eyes," she commanded.

"Why?"

"So that I don't rip them out to make earrings out of them. I'm going to show you something no one has seen in twenty years."

"What?" Sasuke asked, his own hand closing over her shoulder.

"Sharingan off, Sasuke-kun," she said firmly. "I'm not sharing this jutsu. Technically, I shouldn't even know it."

Itachi inhaled sharply. "So it does exist."

"My mother's infamous interrogation technique? No, it wasn't just rampant speculation. Eyes closed, Uchiha family," she instructed yet again. "You'll witness the genius firsthand in a second."

He waited until his brother succumbed to the order before following suit. Mainly for curiosity sake than anything else. But his brother didn't keep silent.

"Is there any truth to using the jutsu in combat situations?"

"It's a highly effective method of dealing with hostiles," she said readily enough. "Open your eyes, I'll show you. Look at this with your Sharingan. It should be able to see."

Her left hand was held open loosely, a half globe of energy coursing out of her hand. He watched, and was surprised that the chakra came directly from her hand, and did not flow into any other place in her body. Beyond her hand, there _was _no chakra--and he wondered bizarrely how that was possible.

"This is the jutsu in quiet mode," she said. "It's actually very hard to hold this way; chakra wants to move, right? But in quiet mode, the chakra has to be full form, and immobile. If you weaken your hold even a little," she did so here, and the chakra wobbled, brushing up against the palm of her hand. There was the slightest sizzling sound. "It burns. However, with proper training, you can stick this into someone's head and get whatever answers you want. Usually, it's painful, but if you have proper chakra control, it isn't fatal."

She calmed the chakra flow, and, yet again, it was simply a half-globe. A moment later, movement pierced it, and it grew spikes, spinning sharply--without growing much larger than a person's skull, he had to notice.

"This is the jutsu in active mode," she said. "And despite appearances, it isn't the least bit painful. After sticking this in someone's skull, it short-circuits the entire nervous system while simultaneously turning the brain to mush." She grinned. "Either one of you brave enough to sacrifice a finger?"

Unsurprisingly, neither were. She merely shrugged, and shifted her position, displaying several inches of tan, naked leg under her her shorts. Her hand moved the half-globe without hesitation to touch it, and pass through it.

There was no hiss, no burn, and no mark when she finally moved it away. When his fingers unerringly reached out to touch, there was no trace of warmth at all.

"Painless," she repeated. "It does no damage to bone or muscles. Technically, it doesn't really damage the brain, either. But you send rapid chakra flow through a brain, and it short-circuits.

"And now, for the school session. Tell me where your memories go." At the blank expressions on both of their faces, she laughed. "You see? This is why you can't learn the jutsu. If you inject this, in quiet mode, into another person's head, so long as it's there it's the same as tying your lives together. If you don't know where to search for memories, the jutsu is immobile. And the brain requires constant chakra flow. If there is no movement, you both die, and no questions are answered. But if you search the wrong place, you could tease the brain into bleeding. One hemorrhage, and, if it doesn't kill you, you're both insane and not even someone proficient with this jutsu could ever turn you, or your victim, around again.

"So, you see," she concluded, "this isn't the kind of jutsu to teach to just anybody. Most people just aren't trustworthy enough to be granted the keys to someone else's soul."

"Your mother taught you this?" Itachi asked quietly, sounding genuinely interested.

"Are you kidding? The instant someone finds out I know this jutsu, I'll be executed. Which is exactly why you'll be dead in a matter of minutes."

"And my younger brother?"

"Isn't likely to tell anyone. Will you, Sasuke-kun?" She queried, glancing over her shoulder to look at him.

"No," he said. What would be the point? And who would he tell?

"Good. Altering memories is possible, but I've never been that good at it. And you'd probably wake up in the middle of it, too."

She inched a bit closer to Itachi, who stiffened now that their entertainment had promptly turned into a threat. "You won't find Zetsu's location in my memory, I promise you."

"From a renowned liar, what makes me think your word is worth anything?" She said flatly. "If I can't eat it or stick it in my purse, it doesn't mean a thing to me, and promises aren't any kind of currency in any country existing.

"Besides, who said I was going into your memory?" She continued. "You carry him with you everywhere. All I have to do is trace his voice in your head. This is the problem with walking around with a telepathic link to anyone. Your location is always easy to discover. And recognizing him? _That_ I can find in your head.

"Good night, loverboy," she said cheerily, and stuck the globe into his brother's face before he could move.

The screaming started almost immediately.

* * *

His brother collapsed four minutes later, and the silence after his screams was deafening. Sakura collapsed quickly after, muttering a string of obscenities in an almost inaudible gasping voice.

Sasuke watched his brother's breathing stoically, wondering if that steady breathing was good news or bad. If his brother died because of this, should be be happy? Sad?

"How is he?" He asked, and his voice sounded hollow to abused ear drums.

"He's breathing," she said flatly, and forced herself to sit up. "So kill him."

Red eyes flashed at her. "I didn't wait this long to kill him in his sleep," he snapped. "And I asked you a question. Will he live?"

"And is he sane?" She finished. Her hand moved over his brother's head and this time the glow was green. "No bleeding. No...lost senses, I guess you could say. His consciousness is still intact. He'll recover. But you're an idiot if you don't kill him now. Vengeance isn't about fighting fair. It's about fucking _killing _the bastard."

He blinked at the sudden vulgarity of the comment. _That_ certainly wasn't the Haruno Sakura he remembered.

When she stood abruptly, and nearly fell over, he frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Going after Zetsu." She stumbled, and swore. "They have Naruto. The _last_ of the Jinchuuriki. If they take the Kyuubi out of him, not only is he dead, but Akatsuki has every one of the bijuu--and we'll be living in a constant war zone until there's no one left to so much as pick up a kunai. I have to catch up before they find a safe place to pull it out of him."

"You mean he didn't give up on me?" He asked, surprised despite himself.

"Are we talking about the same Naruto here?" But she paused. "What made you think he'd give up? He's been following you for the past two months, hasn't he?"

There was the slightest amount of apprehension in her tone that he looked at her closely. "Weren't you with him?"

"I had things to do," she said, avoiding his gaze. "You aren't the center of the universe, you know."

"So I was half right," he concluded. "_You're_ the one who gave up on me."

"If I'd given up on you, Uchiha Sasuke, I wouldn't have been bending over backwards to give you what you want so that you can come home again." There was granite in her voice now. "One of my contacts here was betrayed and jeopardized. Good spies are hard to find, so I went after her. It was a trap set up to implicate Konoha, start up another war and I fell for it. I got out, things went from bad to worse, and by the time things wound down a little my Dad was dead, the Border was endangered and any chance I had of catching up to Naruto was meeting him at the end of the road. I find Itachi, _you _find Itachi, Naruto finds you; everyone goes home happy."

Almost extremely simplified, and, in retrospect, a brilliant plan based on those circumstances. He had to raise one eyebrow. "And you assumed that I would go along with this?"

"You know, when my parents got married, my father took my mother's clan symbol," she said, and his other eyebrow rose to join the first. Deliberately, she showed him her back, where the familiar white circle stood prominently on the red background. "What do you think this symbol is? What does it signify?"

"It's a ring," he said, and rolled his eyes. That was easy. "It says that everything goes full circle. Life, death."

"_Wrong_." There was a sudden ring in her voice. "It's a target. So the enemy will know exactly where to hit to kill me. My grandmother chose it herself when she chose the same path you're taking. A life of always looking over her shoulder, without allies. She brought my mother, and my two uncles, into that world.

"My mother is one of the most brilliant individuals on the same level as Hyuuga Neji, and she's still under house arrest in Konoha," she informed him, and he jerked a little in surprise. She continued to look away from him, back ramrod straight, but suddenly looking beyond fragile. "All because she met my father and decided to have me. I'm not going to let you go this way. You think you know what you're getting into, but you really don't."

"Is that why you want me to go back?" He asked.

"I personally find it extremely fitting," she said, and he could hear the grin in her voice, "for a person with Uchiha blood like you to go into house arrest--considering it was your own father who crippled my mother as punishment for trying to protect me.

"So yeah, Sasuke-kun. I want you to go back. More than anything else in the world. As both my dearest friend and beloved comrade--and as the offspring of the person I hate the most."

This time, when she stalked off, there was no stumbling in her short, purposeful, _prideful_ steps--and this time, he could find no words to stop her.

The reason she wanted him to come back--was for _revenge_?

His legs almost gave out, and he sank down to the ground while they were still strong enough to support him. And could find no reason to blame her.

She told him that she'd loved him before--had that been a lie? Had everything until now been a lie? Was it true? Was he really hated now?

_It doesn't matter_, he told himself firmly. He'd left that part of his life behind him a long time ago. But he'd hoped--for a moment--that he would be loved before he condemned himself forever to darkness. Being loved was what made him able to take that plunge.

And now, inky black inside and out, he was finally aware that there was nowhere left for him to go.

_Vengeance isn't about fighting fair. It's about fucking _killing _the bastard._

He looked at his katana on the ground, still in its scabbard, and could only assume that was true. She'd certainly ripped _his_ heart out with nothing more than words.

He looked away, and found himself looking into his brother's eyes, and for one bizarre moment he could have sworn that there was understanding and sympathy there. But his brother had never felt anything so admirable before. Just like Sakura--everything he had been was a lie, too.

"She won't survive," Itachi said quietly. "The person who has the Jinchuuriki is immortal, with more power than she can ever hope to face on her own."

In his numbness, that meant nothing for a second. "Who?"

"Uchiha Madara."

He stared. "That person died over a hundred years ago."

"And were you there to verify this?" His brother asked. "He's alive. And the second she finds him, not only will she not save anything--but Madara will laugh as he kills the very person she set out in save, right before her eyes."

"So you're saying I should follow her."

"What I'm saying is that if you kill me, I'll tell him that she's coming."

Seeing as he'd be dead, Sasuke rather doubted that.

"Tell him now," he said flatly. "It has nothing to do with me."

"Very well," his brother said simply. "Since her father's killer is with him, maybe she'll die quickly."

There was a moment's pause as his brother closed his eyes.

"There," he said, reopening them. And his eyes glowed crimson. "I told them."

"Good," Sasuke said, straightening. And moved swiftly to draw his katana, placing the blade at his brother's throat in the space of a second. Sharingan blazed in his own eyes. "Now I can kill you without hesitation."

"Oh, were you going to kill me?" He queried, sounding almost amused. "Imagine that. I was starting to wonder if you had second doubts. Not that it matters." He pulled himself up, ignoring where the blade brushed against cloth and skin. "Since I've just been given strict instructions to stop messing around."

_Strict orders_? And since when did Itachi follow any orders, strict or otherwise, unless it suited him to do so?

"And you have something I want."

* * *

**Note**: FINALLY! I have broken the vicious cycle. This chapter is officially longer than the last one, as of yesterday. I also mostly like it (Is the world ending or what?). It's still shorter than the Itachi chapters, but only because the last scene was being troublesome. I liked where it was going, but then it got to a point where I _could _conceivably stop it, and I had ideas for the next chapter, so.

About that ItaSasuSaku fight in scene one. Yes, Sakura was actually injected with the same injection she's been using throughout the story thus far. All it really does is make the target woozy, and makes it harder to mold chakra. She pretended to be unconscious to fight off the first part, and to wait for an opening. The reason it knocked Itachi out is because she studied acupuncture. Make sense?

And for those playing the home game, the "Taki" in Takimoto means "plunging waterfall." At least according to the book I'm working from (of course, it's old, so I may be wrong).

Also, as to how Sakura knows about the whole psychic connections between the Akatsuki members...you find out in the next chapter. (Yes, there _is _a reason for it!)

As an aside to **Ita-ta**, technically, Sasuke has "ghosts" as in memories, and Itachi has "ghosts" as in a haunting.

Thank you **Ita-ta**, **hukomuyo**, **dark Alley**, **ArjunaAnja**, **Hiei's Cute Girl**, **aznkitty180** and **Hao'sAnjul** for reviewing! (Even though **dark Alley** did do what I told her not to. _Sigh_.)


	7. Sakura: The Secret and the Goddess

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**An Armed Truce**

Part Six: The Secret and the Goddess

_The thin line between love and hatred, insanity and genius_

_It's possible no one knows that place so well as I._

_I've never lied to you,_

_so why...?_

The sun painted the ground in shades of gold as it rose over the horizon, shining a radiance on this place in the midst of a silence that was almost eerie in its peace. It was a familiar scene that should be able to warm even the most cynical of hearts, but, as always, it missed hers by inches.

Here in Earth Country, it was impossible for her to hear anything but screams.

_Once upon a time, once upon a time, once upon a time..._

Her head throbbed, vision greyed around the edges; her foot caught on gravel and she stumbled, only barely catching her balance. She exhaled, slowly, through her teeth.

For a channel, lack of chakra wasn't necessarily life-threatening. But it wasn't the lack so much as the usage that would bring you to your knees. Every gram of chakra spent required an eighth of that time resting to regenerate, which was something no channel could duplicate on their own.

What she _really _needed was a rice ball--but that was impossible. The flood had washed away her bag, with her food, clothes, extra weapons, and spices along with it. She'd been incredibly lucky to muster enough strength, energy and control to maintain her hold on her wooden case, and her position in the canyon once the dubious safety of that crevasse had worn itself away.

Not that it mattered; even if she'd had a rice ball on her, chances were it was wet. Any water applied to the snack would negate most of the healing properties while significantly multiplying its risks.

(She thought it was a nice surprise that Itachi had still been well enough to wake up after he'd gone out of his way to poison himself.)

But what the hell. She was going to die soon, anyway; what was the real difference between total system meltdown and death by flesh-eating missing-nin?

Aside from the fact that one was already on its way, and the other was probably sweeping out of Earth Country right now with the tide.

"Don't you have better things to do than follow me?" She asked, voice dangerously low as she resumed her slow journey. "Such as watching your keeper, perhaps? Shisui-onii-san."

The ghost didn't hesitate, flashing to walk beside her. "You remember me," he said, and sounded far too cheerful. "And it's fine. Itachi can take care of himself."

"You have a face that is impossible to forget, onii-san," she said, voice decidedly less cheerful. "Weren't you the one who was supposed to kill me?"

"You knew." He only grew more amused. "All this time?"

"No." She gave the barest imitation of a shrug. "Suspected, maybe. But not for years. Tell me, do you go out of your way, volunteering to kill children?"

He laughed. "You really make me sound like a cruel person, Sakura-chan. But you liked the attention, didn't you? Wasn't I your closest friend?"

She ignored the question, if only because he was right. "Your family," she said quietly, "is hopelessly naive. Aren't they? It must have something to do with the Sharingan. Because your family is supposed to be so incredible, you only really deal with admiration and resentment. None of you ever suspect any ulterior motive."

"You're right."

This time, she actually turned her head to look at him, standing tall and strong beside her, looking exactly the same as he had when she was younger. Now that she was grown, he was only half a head taller than she was, but he still moved as he always had--lazily, like a cat.

"Your spirit," she said. "It's tied to his eyes, isn't it? That's why he can see you."

He smiled. "You're very intuitive, aren't you?"

"Not really," she said. Intuition had always been one of her weak points. What would pass as intuition for another would, for her, answer to reason and experience. "It's only logical. When Itachi-san killed you, you didn't become a ghost until after his Mangekyou was activated. There was a split-second variable. The source of his power is _you_. That's why his eyes are failing too, right? And why the Mangekyou takes place outside of time."

"You _are _astute," he said. "But I can't pretend to know all there is about the jutsu."

"You mean because you're a moron?"

"So _mean_, Sakura-chan."

"But it's true. The only jutsu you've ever been famous for was the Body Flicker, right? That's not exactly the most difficult jutsu, you know."

"If it was difficult, it would be too hard to use in battle conditions."

"And you wanted to catch up with the Yondaime, right?"

He smiled. "As always, you see right through me."

"He died at about the time you graduated from the Academy, so it was pretty reasonable," she said, and shrugged. "You wanted to be the next Hokage, by copying his jutsu. And then there was Itachi-san. You must have really resented it."

"Didn't you ever resent something?"

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Not really. I've never been a particularly ambitious person."

"Maybe not an ambitious person, but definitely an arrogant one."

"And you?" She sent back without blinking. "Don't you think that you qualify as arrogant? You said that the only person who could ever hope to fill in the Yondaime's shoes was you, and you end up dying right off."

He laughed. "You really are exactly as Takaishi said. It's amusing," he said, and reached out to mess with her hair. "But you only show your real self to criminals."

"Don't be stupid. Who'd show their true self to purse-snatchers? Seriously." But the frosted smile that had originated on his face appeared suddenly on hers. "The only ones I show _this_ face to are murderers."

_Like you_.

"I see." He removed his hand. "You know, that person loved you."

"Which person is this?"

"Takaishi. That's why when he died, he came running straight to you."

"You mean, he intended to haunt me?" She laughed. "Then maybe it was a good thing he went out before you finished absorbing him."

That earned a sharp look. "You knew?"

"The reason there aren't that many ghosts left isn't because more are passing over immediately. It's because you--and others like you--steal their energy to make yourselves stronger. Am I wrong?" She wrapped her arms around herself for warmth, tightening her death grip on her case. "And that's why it's rare for ghosts to haunt people. Because the instant they make that connection, someone like you always appears--and _they_ always disappear.

"And they can never come back."

"Aren't you perceptive?" He patted her back and she turned sharply, knocking him flat with her elbow. He stared upward at her, nearly transparent from shock. "How did you...? Are you..."

"Dead?" She smiled. "What do you think?"

He flashed again to stand in front of her. "How do you still have a body?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't try to make me the same as you. The only reason you still exist is because you're tied to that person's eyes. You really have a pathetic existence."

"So...you met your Grandmother?"

"_Idiot_!" She shoved him out of her way. "Of course not! I've never met her. And despite rumor, she never developed a jutsu like that. They only called her _The Immortal_ because your family is full of idiots."

"You aren't explaining this development!"

"And you aren't the type of person anyone would want to explain things to. So forget it."

"Then, if it isn't your Grandmother..."

She glanced at him over one shoulder. "Shouldn't you be with Itachi-san? What if he needs you?"

He smiled. "All right." He paused momentarily in the act of turning away. "When did you pierce your ears?"

She frowned, but didn't reach up to touch the cold iron hoops that now decorated them. "Around a month ago."

"Really?" He frowned, slowly fading out. "For some reason, it doesn't suit you."

She started laughing, seconds after he disappeared. "I don't need you to tell me that."

A short breeze almost knocked her over and she put a hand to her head, trying to stifle the screaming. Blood painted the ground a dark red that no amount of rain could wash away, and refused to disappear when she closed her eyes.

She needed shelter. She needed rest. She needed supplies. And, now that Zetsu was on the move, the needs grew more and more imminent.

A little desperately, she reached into her vest pocket, and was relieved to find that the golden vial hadn't washed itself away. Like the bugs, it had come from Shino; like the bugs, it would be unable to help her. But its mere presence gave her strength, and reminded her of the desperation in his hand, in his voice, as he gave her this last gift from a long friendship.

_If you ever need help, I __**will **__find you. Don't forget to call._

She replaced the vial, exhaled a short breath of air. Both her chakra and stamina were probably only around about thirty percent. She needed at least twenty to be able to safely take a rice ball without sending her chakra coils into an uproar. She needed at least forty to generate enough power for a summon.

Which meant, naturally, that she'd spend more than half a day resting just so that she could stand a half a chance for survival. Twice as long if she stayed in stealth mode.

Did she even _have_ twenty-five hours?

She pulled herself wearily up onto the ledge that stood as a border between Earth and Cloud Country, hung there from one hand as the rhythmic chanting began in her head anew.

_Once upon a time, once upon a time, once upon a time..._

"Shut up," she said sharply, and grabbed another handhold.

Her career had never been a thing of the seconds, minutes and hours of the average shinobi; days, weeks, months and years were a luxury that no ninja could afford. For now, at least, she would live one more heartbeat. One more step. Another inch up that scale of red rock.

He'd looked sad, right? She could survive if he was sad.

* * *

It had taken a matter of weeks for her life to fall apart after Sasuke had left. Naruto had disappeared with the legendary sennin, Jiraiya. Kakashi had disappeared without a word, pursuing his own strength. The very people who had praised the remaining Uchiha now labeled him a traitor.

She'd been moved into her own apartment, to keep her from getting any "ideas" about following her teammate's example.

She had traded--or been traded--the consistency of Team Seven for the repetition of medical training. The weak, helpless Haruno Sakura for another who would have a use, a purpose if she no longer had a soul.

She had never tried to disillusion herself when it came to Konoha's intentions. Toward her, toward her family, and, most of all, towards what had at one point been called Team Seven.

Unlucky us, to be on a team with that loser Naruto. Unlucky Sasuke, to be on road to nowhere with Sakura and Naruto. Unlucky Kakashi, to be on a team with a monster, the granddaughter of a mass-murderer, and one of the few remaining Uchiha.

Time hadn't changed them at all. Konoha was still slinging the rejects their way. Team Kakashi was still filled with characters no one would cry for if they never came back again.

Wasn't she the best example?

Sakura filled her hand with chakra, attached it to the tree and slid the rest of the way down. One of the benefits of Cloud Country--there were plenty of places to hide. And a channel could trade surrounding chakra for their own, which would make it almost impossible for them to be found by chakra alone. You might lose corners of it in the transfer, but it was certainly doable.

And, fifteen hours later, she was finally ready to weigh the odds in her favor.

She bit her thumb.

The kind of slug that came out was always smaller than you thought it would be. She rolled her eyes inwardly, because appearances were deceptive. Immediately recognizing her, it stretched itself out on the ground, for a moment resembling a silver puddle. When it came to their partnership, words were often a luxury. Cautiously, she climbed inside, and prepared for the worst.

And received it.

She fell out of the wall hard enough to leave a bruise on her arm and made a sound of disgust. The difference between the hiding place here and the ones in the snakes and frogs controlled by Naruto and Sasuke was that slugs didn't exactly have a mouth, and thus had no "entrance." You could enter from any place in their body, which meant, of course, that the gravity "inside" was different than the kind outside.

The floor was simple and wooden, classic Japanese style. And in one corner, where blankets piled up on top of a pallet, moving.

Slowly, grimly, the blankets parted and a dark head peeked out from them.

"Oh." She said darkly, and plopped her head back down. "It's you."

"It's me," Sakura agreed, sliding out of her vest. "Good evening, Kichimura-san. How are you feeling today?"

Kichimura Tomo, known for the past few years as _Inago_, narrowed her eyes. "How do you _think _I'm feeling? You drop me in here two months ago and forget about me. If it wasn't for your little slug friend, I'd be starving to death. And they're too _nice_. Do you know how annoying it is to have two months with no one to talk to except your 'house?' I'm going crazy here!"

"Did you _want_ to try explaining your existence to ANBU with a broken leg?" She asked flatly and went to the dresser. She always kept a large supply of clothes here, and despite the two months the former spy had put into wearing them, there was still something left for her to change into.

Though she _really_ had to do laundry.

"They _found _you?" Kichimura asked, with a hint of worry that no amount of torture would make her admit to.

"Yeah," she said. "Just outside of the city. They were coming to get us."

She flinched.

"Exactly," Sakura agreed. Unauthorized rescue missions that resulted in the capture and interrogation of the rescuer often _did_ result in the swift orders of elimination from parties that could be implicated by that person's existence. And, because of who she was, there was no one who would speak for her safety.

One of the few reasons she hadn't simply knocked Sasuke over the head and dragged him back to Konoha by the hair.

Not that Tsunade's signature on her death warrant wasn't a stab in the gut.

"I'm sorry," the spy said sincerely. "I should have realized that I was compromised. Been more careful."

"And I should have killed first and asked questions later." She shrugged. "We were both fools."

But that had been almost impossible to do. Kichimura had given her a reason for living. A place where the Konoha higher-ups wouldn't be looking for another mission with an almost nonexistent survival rate. The Hokage had given her the tools to survive; Konoha had given her something to use them on.

But most people didn't nail a plank of wood with a guillotine hovering over their heads.

"Are they still chasing you?" Kichimura asked quietly.

She smirked. "Are you kidding? I apparently died about a month ago, after a fight with some Akatsuki members. Fell off a cliff."

"Did you win?"

The smile widened. "I still remain undefeated."

She sighed. "Not a bad way for a legend to end."

"Right. I'd have preferred to die _after_ saving Sasuke-kun, thank you very much."

"So what are you doing here, anyway? Not for my company, I know."

"My supplies got washed away in the flood. I need to restock."

Kichimura almost nodded, and then her eyes narrowed. "Is that blood?"

She frowned, looked over her shoulder at the red that stretched down her entire right side. She'd _thought_ that the bugs had been going crazy in that tree. So that was what had happened. She'd barely noticed.

"Yeah," she said. "Must have happened during the flood. There was some debris."

"So naturally you decided to go wading in it." The spy rolled her eyes. "Go take a bath before it gets infected. I'll put some lotion on it for you."

Sakura smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she said, and marched swiftly away.

* * *

Once upon a time, Inago had been the top spy on the track; an invaluable resource to Konoha. Only a select few were allowed to know even his codename, and only a fraction of those had actually seen the man and lived. He could have easily been a name upheld by a dozen people, but those who knew him and all knew his signs, and upheld that there was only one, could only be one, _Inago_. The dead body that had lain at Kichimura's feet hadn't looked anything like a spy, but it had been identical to the picture she'd been given, with the addition of a bluish tint to his skin and a few smears of blood. The young woman standing above him had remained relatively unharmed, unwinded.

Kichimura Tomo had inherited his name and his title, and the responsibilities that went with them. And after a few minor complications, Sakura had become her only contact. The fall of the famous spy remained a complete secret. In all likelihood, it would remain that way.

But it would be impossible for her to keep the disguise now. For the time being, she was lucky to still have her life.

Sakura would do anything to be sure that she kept it.

She grabbed the towel off the shelf, patting her arm dry, and didn't look at the doorway. Slug houses didn't generally have doors so much as openings, but they were considerate enough if you told them what you wanted. Or so she'd heard; she'd maybe said a grand total of ten words to them over their years of partnership. She spent too much time in situations that required silence.

She let the towel fall to the floor, pulled her robe off of the hook and put it around her shoulders. There was no real point to wearing it; the scratches ran all the way down her right. Habit, maybe, being the only reason.

Kichimura smiled at her, the same meaningless smile she always had. She'd managed to get to the medical kit she'd left there on one leg, and now sat in the crumpled pile of blankets on the floor, dressed entirely in red beset with white rings. "Feeling better?"

There was nothing she could do but smile back. "Mmm," she said, and moved to sit with her, touching a short kimono on the floor with the tip of one finger. "You look good in my clothes."

"It would be a waste if no one wore them," the spy said. "And you said that I could help myself. Give me your arm."

Obediantly, she slid her arm out of the sleeve and offered it. "Did I say that?" She asked curiously.

"You don't remember?"

"I said many things," she said. "But I don't remember much about that."

"Really?" The spy finished tying the bandages on one arm, and moved to her leg. "What do you remember?"

"Nothing I wouldn't be happier forgetting."

"Oh?" She looked at her steadily, her hand suddenly still. "You can tell me."

"Did you enjoy being Inago, Kichimura-san?"

"I did," she said, and smiled, resuming her administrations. "Because you were there. Like you are now. Did I ever thank you for coming after me?"

"I did nothing that deserved thanks," Sakura said flatly. "I only made the situation worse for you. I should have known that you would never have asked for help yourself. Not even from me. We should both be dead right now."

"Mmm. But not many people can burn a mind-altering drug out of their systems. You're a very special person."

"If your chakra is fire type, it doesn't cost much to heat your body. The hard part is turning a stagnant chakra into a usable kind. It's basic." It was also a trick that she was incapable of now. A channel's ability was in the mind, and the echoes in her head would drive her mad.

"It hurts you"

"It's painful," Sakura agreed. "A channel can burn to death if they aren't careful."

A person with no sense of self-preservation was incapable of being careful.

The spy sighed and finished tying the bandage around her leg. "I'm sorry about your Grandmother."

"Why?"

"I know that you wanted answers that only she could give you."

Sakura sighed. "Kichimura-san," she said quietly, picking clothes off the floor almost at random. "Do you believe that the past can be rewritten?"

She leaned back, watching the kunoichi select and discard outfits, throwing them into a pile on the floor, resting her head on one hand. "Wear that one," she said when Sakura pulled up the short red kimono. "It reminds me of when we met."

Sakura laughed, folding it over one arm. "My flower girl costume. I didn't wear that until later."

Kichimura smirked in return. "True. It takes a very special person to look good covered in dirt in an ostentatious, cropped kimono."

"Character building is my specialty," she said simply, and pulled out a pair of shorts to wear with it.

"The past changes every day," the spy said abruptly, before that lighthearted silence could fall. "It's manipulated by memories, constantly. It's fluid, not static.

"You said so."

Sakura smiled, slightly. "You're right."

She had, after all, pulled that piece of info from her mother's journals--the same place she'd learned that most forbidden of jutsus, back when the other Academy students were still learning swapping jutsus.

_My existence is a lie_ was an unavoidable truth. Her only consolation was that everyone else was just as imaginary as she herself.

The spy didn't speak at all as Sakura dressed behind the partition, but she didn't need eyes in the back of her head to know that the other woman was watching her. She tied the _obi _with the ease of long practice, checking her reflection in the mirror to check the shape, and adjusted the edges to look more worn more out of habit than design. She was not, after all, _Sakura the flower girl_. Disguise was unnecessary.

"What?" She asked curiously, glancing over her shoulder.

"You look tired."

"I am tired." She picked up her hitai-ate, tied back her hair. "I haven't been sleeping much lately."

"People make fatal mistakes if they don't rest."

"You're right." She sighed. "Unfortunately, there's no time. Akatsuki has Naruto, and unless I get to him before they finish the jutsu, it's too late. Added to that, I have a little _vendetta _against one particular member, who is currently on his way."

"You mean Pein?"

She nearly laughed, pulling a bag out of the closet to fill. "Don't be stupid. Can you actually see _Pein_ running after _anyone_, least of all me?"

"I thought it would be reasonable, after what you did to him."

"Not as much as I'd have liked." There was a clatter as the kunai fell into the bag, and they both looked down at it as though surprised they had the nerve to make noise. Sakura looked at them silently for a moment before throwing clothes on top of them, and burying the clothes with medical supplies. "Besides, he already knows that I'll return to him eventually. That it's inevitable."

The real question was how much he could expect to hurt her between then and now.

"No," she said. "The one that I'm talking about is Zetsu."

Kichimura looked surprised. "Zetsu?"

"He killed my father." She picked up a glass bottle of perfume and frowned at it for a moment before spritzing herself and sticking it into the bag. "You wouldn't know anything about him, would you?"

"Do you have any idea how expensive that perfume is?"

"I bought it," she reminded her primly. "And it's useful. It's impossible to remain inconspicuous without it."

She sighed and fell back only her makeshift bed. "Being inconspicuous is impossible for you."

That earned a smile. "You think so?"

"Goddesses don't tend to walk around pretending to be air. But fine, I'll tell you." The long-suffering tone was familiar and borderline affectionate. "Zetsu isn't someone you can expect to win against. You won't be able to touch him, above or below ground, and there's no safety in the trees. _He will find you no matter where you are_, and once he does, you're _dead_. You aren't invincible; you're lucky that you haven't had to face anyone like him before."

"He killed my father."

"Your father chose the wrong time to be born."

"You don't understand; I don't have a choice. Unlike the rest of Akatsuki, he's not immobile while they do the separation ceremony. My only way to delay them is to kill him."

"Throwing your life away isn't going to accomplish anything. You won't save your friend. He's already dead, whether his heart's still beating or not."

She smiled. "So what you're saying is that I need to develop a new jutsu in the next fifty-nine seconds."

Though she'd have a chance if only she had the perfect source of chakra. One tall, thin barrier, and all she'd have to worry about would be keeping the mysterious Zetsu within close range...not likely to be a problem, since she had yet to hear of any jutsu he was most likely to use.

Of course, any witnesses would probably be dead.

_Damn it_, this would be so much easier if she had Shino with her. She could use that jutsu so much more easily with him there to help her. But there was no chance of him getting here in time to help her. Actually, the chance of that happening was about a negative billion.

"Don't worry," she said quietly, "I'll be fine. There's no other choice, so I'll just have to live through it. I hate showing all of my cards like this, but sometimes it's unavoidable."

There was a moment of silence before the spy let out the rest of her breath in a long sigh of defeat. "Do you need chakra?"

"Yes." She dropped the bag next to the wall where she'd first gotten in, and eased down to sit beside her. She held up a hand. "Do you remember how to transfer?"

Kichimura lifted her hand to touch palm and fingers. "Yes."

"Divide your chakra in half, and build only that half up; let it spill over into your fingertips. Keep them separate; if they're connected anywhere, I could kill you by removing it."

It was dangerous, it was so dangerous. Her pulse raced as chakra flowed from the spy into her, racing down her chakra coils, roaring to pool in her stomach. It was hot and delicious and painful, as the rotating chakra converted from the spy's type to her own, and left her with the impression of someone who's just ate. As always, it left her feeling a little like a vampire. A little like a murderer.

Color leeched slowly from the spy's face, and her veins grew more and more vivid. Sakura waited, one heartbeat, two, and finally let the hand go.

Too fast, too fast. It had to be exactly fifty percent of the chakra, or shock would set in, but Kichimura always refused to remember that. She always gave away too much, or didn't cut it off properly.

She wasn't the type to "image" her chakra, and lack of imagination got people killed every day.

But she needed chakra, to make as big a target as possible. Any less would be useless.

The spy was still breathing. Sakura picked her back up and inhaled, letting the residual effects of the transfer burn through her chakra coils, building heat until it reached the surface of her skin. The flowery scent of the perfume spiked sharply, and she pressed against the wall, pushing through it into the outside.

She was upside down when she fell, crashing into tree branches on the way back to the ground. When she touched the ground again, there was no longer any trace of scent, as her body absorbed the aroma of her surroundings. Leaf and sap and dirt, and other fragrances far less appealing.

Her mind snapped out, snatching at the thin string between herself and Itachi, tracing through it to Zetsu.

And found him close, but distracted. There was food nearby.

A mess he needed to clean up.

Her heart nearly froze, since there was no question who he meant. And this time when she ran, she didn't hesitate, and ran like Death itself was right behind her.

* * *

Coincidentally, Zetsu knew she was coming. A creature who could sense ghosts on top of having two minds, like she did, would feel the hand on the link between them that grew progressively stronger with each step she took in his direction. The lack of scent was but a small deterrent, since she burst out of the trees without ceremony, and stood in full view, tall and proud like the Goddess she claimed to be.

Most likely because the "food" he seemed so intend on consuming happened to be the adult half of her team, namely Yamato and Kakashi, of which only the former seemed to be mobile--and him only barely.

She was breathing hard, but her eyes remained on the Akatsuki, barely flicking to her teammates. "I thought so," she said quietly.

"Who's this?" One half of the villain inquired.

"Haruno Sakura, at your service," she said over the excepted 'who cares' the missing-nin's other half provided. "Maybe you've heard of me."

An easy assumption to make, considering who this person was. According to Itachi, this creature was the witness of most of Akatsuki's monstrous acts (who wanted to see boring stuff?), so there was no reason for him to miss her. The whispered that passed between both halves only cemented that belief, but only because she knew what they were saying.

_Pein's new toy_, indeed.

"Get out of here, Sakura," Yamato said weakly.

So he didn't know what had happened. Thank goodness.

"Sorry," she said, and dropped her hand to her kunai pouch. "I can't do that. This person killed my father. And I refuse to let what happened to Gaara happen to Naruto."

Zetsu was on top of her almost before the kunai was thrown. It landed right next to the ANBU, useless, and Sakura sent a chakra-filled punch that barely scraped the missing-nin's white face. Blood fell from her hand, thick enough to splash on the ground; her opponent crashed into a tree that did little to slow him down. Sakura planted herself between him and her team, aware even as she did so that the only reason she was there was because he allowed her to be.

She grit her teeth and wiped at the blood with her thumb, ducking down for a summon. "Get in," she said sharply. "I'll buy you some time."

Yamato hesitated, and she was barely able to repel the Akatsuki as he zipped forward again. He wasn't trained to help her in this sort of situation, and she had no time to teach him; like this, he could only be in her way.

_This really is impossible without Shino, isn't it_?

"_Go_!" She commanded, eyes not leaving Zetsu. "You're worse than useless here."

He nodded slowly, and lowered Kakashi into the puddle of slug before following him into it. But the Akatsuki chose that moment in between to attack in a wave of kunai that stabbed into her body as she shielded them, and then appeared behind her, aiming a kick at the back of her neck.

A dehabilitating move that would make this entire expedition fruitless, and provide the Akatsuki member another snack--and a doorway to more. She barely blocked it in time, and skidded across the ground, herself. She caught her kunai on the way back, aimed and threw with surprising precision considering the situation, and nearly cried at the pain.

She was terrified. Zetsu had escaped beneath the ground, and the only good sign was that Yamato was finally gone. She gestured towards the slug and it compliantly shrank down to its normal size.

And she dove for it--an instant before Zetsu struck. Swiftly, she used to blood-stained hand to mark a circle around the slug, and moved the majority of her chakra above the slug, forming a tall line of chakra. She pushed back through it, putting the circle between her and Zetsu, simultaneously making the seals.

He followed--and immediately screamed in agony as the barrier configured matter into energy, channeling chakra into her body. She smirked, but weakly, at the familiar burn of excess.

_I need more_, she thought. _This isn't enough for an attack_.

She grabbed Zetsu's arm, gathered chakra into her other hand, and punched him through the barrier. The black arm fell to the ground, a hole formed in the green 'leaf' framing his body, and he continued to scream, recoiling in pain. He turned to flee for a ranged attack and she quickly formed seals, expelling a rapid current of chakra that interrupted his flow on top of burning him, and she put his severed arm against the barrier, converting that, too, into chakra, simultaneously blowing away more kunai.

This time, when he disappeared, he did not come back. Sakura traced his movement for about a mile and then let go of the connection, in too much pain to hold onto it.

"_Hopeless_," she said weakly, and laughed. "Really."

"Apparently not."

She turned, noticed black hair, Sharingan red eyes, and four bodies standing behind the owner. She smiled, green eyes seeking out only one face; the most important face.

"Sasuke."

He stood there impassively, hands in his pockets in a gesture so reminiscent of the old Sasuke that she wondered momentarily if she was dreaming. Had to be. There was no way that Sasuke was coming with her to save Naruto, let alone her; especially not alongside his brother.

"Kinda makes you wonder what we rushed out here for."

Sakura laughed, stepped forward with her mouth open to reply, and then fell to the ground in a dead faint.

* * *

The thing about the dead is that their existance rested on the lives of those who knew them. And like any good shinobi, Sakura's career had remained secret to all but a few witnesses scattered over time, almost all long since dead. And the only person who knew even half of her legend would never hear the rest.

And naturally, the legend she knew was the one designed for telling; the children's version.

The joke of that, at least, had her waking with a smile on her face. And staring, blankly, into a set of unfamiliar eyes in a long, broad face. The smile froze and she blinked, sorting through information, trying to recall as terror and panic flashed in the back of her head. Then another face hovered in the corner of her vision, prompting her arm to thrust out, sending the ghost flying. The unfamiliar face--and several others, she noticed now--all stepped away from her, and she pushed herself up into a sitting position, glancing around, accepting the blood red tint that stained her vision as something she couldn't change.

And was relieved to find that she still remembered who she was now that her eyes were open.

She was still in the dirt, next to a puddle of blood that erased all but the faintest trace of her circle. She hadn't moved an inch from where she'd fallen.

Actually, chances were that the impact had been what woke her up.

"Ouch," Shisui complained, rubbing his chest. "I am _never_ going to get used to that."

"Watch your ghost, Itachi-san," she commanded. "Or lose him."

He looked stunned, but, predictably, the other four weren't able to see ghosts, least of all this one, and seemed to be wondering if she was crazy.

They had _no _idea.

"You shouldn't move," Sasuke said.

She ignored him, wiping the last remnants of the circle into the dirt, and aimed a glance at Itachi. "What's _he_ doing here? Didn't I tell you to kill him already?"

Sasuke's expression stiffened. "He still has uses."

"Really." Since he'd explained it to _her_, it meant that he was still struggling with it. Or maybe there was something going on here that she didn't understand. Possible. She began removing kunai, healing her wounds as she went, and then frowned at them both. "Did you two fight or something?"

"Yeah," one of Sasuke's companions said, and rolled his eyes. "You should have seen it, they--" he broke off quickly at a glare, and looked at the sky in apparent frustration.

"I'm all for a peaceable solution," she said, looking at the younger Uchiha meaningfully, "but couldn't you have decided that _three years ago_?"

This time Sasuke's annoyance was aimed at her, but she returned his glare levelly and moved to her bag, pulling out a tin of medicinal ointment and throwing it at him.

"Fix yourself up," she commanded. "Your blood offends me." A statement that had every last one of them looking pointedly to her bloodstained kimono, though he did, after a moment, tend to his wounds. She watched him for a moment silently before taking off her kimono and throwing it to the ground. The slug parted from where it was hiding in the bag reluctantly, drawing the fabric into its body before disappearing in a puff of smoke, removing any remaining trace of blood on the ground. She ignored the movement, pulling another cropped kimono out of her bag and draping it around her shoulders like a robe, whistling all the while.

There would be no point in putting bloodstains on an otherwise unmarred piece of fabric.

"Do you have to make that noise?" Sasuke's voice was pained, with a kind of restraint that was completely uncharacteristic of him.

She ignored him, using her perfume to soak a scrap of cloth and wiping the worst of the bloodstains off of her mesh shirt.

"Do you _really _think that's going to help?" The smaller of the two strangers asked snidely. "It stinks."

She met his eyes and smirked. "You don't know anything about chemistry, do you?" She retopped the bottle and moved it back into the pack. "This perfume's origin is Earth Country, from a group of flowers that grow only on the mountaintops outside Iwagakure. Legend has it that the flowers were originally grafted by the daughter of a famous feudal lord, who loved flowers so much that she grew the flowers all around her house. One day, her father was shot with an arrow and was on the brink of death; he escaped, but everyone knew that he lived on a mountaintop covered in sweet purple flowers. So his daughter and their servants planted them on every mountaintop surrounding Iwagakure, and they fled their home to hide in the village masquerading as a caravan party.

"So when the father's enemies came looking for him, all they found was an empty, run-down house on top of a mountain. And of course, by then, his injuries had long since healed. So as his enemies went home in defeat, their bodies were marked by the scent of the flowers and allowed him to follow with ease. They were not even aware that he was there until every last one of them were dead. Eventually, people decided that it was because their noses had become too used to the scent of flowers that they hadn't noticed him coming, but their family was renowned for their sense of smell; they wouldn't risk losing their edge over something so trivial. And when you become used to the smell, you don't notice _that smell _alone, not surrounding scents.

"The _actual _reason they couldn't find him by scent was because of this perfume," she continued, carefully sealing up her bag to insure that it was airtight. "When converted into a perfume, it has a life of six hours, during which time you need only to provide _heat _to produce a no-smell zone." She held up the damp, bloodstained piece of cloth, focusing her chakra into it while simultaneously building it up into her body. The cloth immediately burst into flame, disintegrating into ashes in an instant, while the flowery scent disappeared during the distraction. She promptly removed all chakra from her body, scattering it into her surroundings and watched all the blood drain from the other girl's head.

She smiled, folding her kimono back around her. "Do you smell anything now?" She asked innocently.

"Interesting trick," Itachi said simply while the girl sputtered, staring at her in wide-eyed horror.

"Glad you like it," she said. "Want to try my perfume?"

He actually seemed to consider it, which was something she'd never seen in anyone else before. She could just imagine Sasuke's reaction of complete, utter denail at being asked the same question. Naruto's extreme, ear-splitting protests. Even Kakashi's polite refusal. Not even Sai was likely to try it, no matter its practical uses.

Which was why she was surprised when he held out his hand. "If you don't mind."

At which time the girl had finally regained both auditory capabilities and full use of her language, sticking her finger under Sakura's face. "You-you-you...are you a ghost?"

Sakura paused in the act of untying her bag. "Probably. Does it really matter?"

* * *

**Note:** And this time I'm a measly 171 words short of my 7000 word deadline. Whatever. At least it's more than last time.

In this chapter I think I'm being pretty blatant about what's going on and what's already happened. If you still can't figure it out, well, there's still 13 chapters after this one. I had a lot of trouble with the OC in this chapter, because she has like this gigantic crush on Sakura, and the scene kept wanting to lean towards smutty. And if you're curious about Sakura and Shino's relationship...well, I don't know if I'm going to go into that much detail about it in this chapter. Suffice to say that he and Sakura spent a lot of time together developing that jutsu I used during the ZetsuSakura fight; because she can't exactly see the flow of her chakra, she used his bugs to trace the movement for her. They're actually a very incredible team, but it's all hush-hush.

As for the jutsu itself...well, you hear about it more in the next chapter. I actually developed it for a different story to kill Madara, but it requires both Shino and Naruto as well as Sakura to be used effectively. I don't think I'm going to use it again in the story though (didn't even want to use it _here_).

By the way, sorry for the unannounced hiatus on the story. This chapter was actually very hard to write...it even turned into a flashback at one point. Then I put it aside for my May Project (which fell through), and when I got ready to go back to it in June, my Grandmother had a stroke on the 2nd. She's fine, but she's been in rehab until the 3rd of this month, and is now home again, though she still has Out Patient therapy three times a week, which means I have to stay here and look after the dogs while she's relearning how to walk and use her left side.

But I guess it's not all bad. I did, after all, manage to write most of this while we were going through that little drama.

In any case. Ask what you want; I'm always happy to answer. (Though I really have no idea what the reaction will be to this turn of events...or the next dozen I have lined up...)

Thank you **ArjunaAnja**, **13th hour**, **aznkitty180**, **akatsuki's hikari**, **kakashi-and-pocky**, **HinataHyuuga211**, **Hao'sAnjul**, **dark Alley**, **Pandastacia**, **Ita-ta**, **Hiei's Cute Girl** and **Takara Makoto** for reviewing! Hopefully the next update won't take that long. It's Itachi's turn again!


	8. Itachi: The Memory and the Master

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

**An Armed Truce**

Part Seven: The Memory and the Master

_The eyes that see through me, the hands that reach past me_

_This important person no longer exists_

_In your eyes._

"Don't be stupid."

All three of his little brother's overly excitable companions noticeably tensed at his cold, flat voice. Sasuke's dark eyes were markedly scornful as he looked at them, primarily fixed on the woman who'd asked the question in the first place.

"You can't tell me that you actually believe in this supernatural nonsense. Even if they did exist, ghosts don't have bodies, do they?"

"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Shisui commented, and earned a glance from Itachi for his effort.

"Well, you can interpret the word 'ghost' in several ways, can't you?" Sakura asked mildly, removing her perfume bottle once again from her bag. The question was so carefully offhand that it drew attention from the three resident Uchiha, even while putting the rest at ease. The kunoichi pretended not to notice, rising to stand in front of him and spraying the perfume in front of him.

"Walk through it," she said. "It'll keep the smell from being too overwhelming for you."

"Wouldn't that make the perfume less effective?"

"Ever use your chakra to burn your skin off? Hurts like hell." He took the hint, and remained immobile when she touched the back of his arm after he passed through the mist, carefully avoiding the damp scent. She laughed lightly. "Full of surprises, aren't you? All the guys I know would _die _before he did that. Especially your brother."

At the remark, Sasuke aimed an _of course_ look over his shoulder, but the expression was more than a little complicated. Of which he could more than relate to.

No one besides Shisui had dared to touch him so casually in years.

So when she slid her hand from his arm to the small of his back, he looked at her askance. She smiled sunnily back at him. "Sorry," she said. "But it's too dangerous to let you do this on your own. Pardon the intrusion."

His eyes widened in shock at the sudden feel of his chakra moving on its own, rolling, rising to the surface of his skin and heating on the way up. He jerked away, turning to stare at her as his temperature immediately lowered back to normal.

"Wise move," she said.

Sasuke's hand closed on her arm. "What the hell did you just do?"

She glanced up at him. "He's still alive."

"That wasn't what I asked you."

"Nag, nag. I just borrowed his chakra for a little."

There was a small pause. "The hell you do that?"

"That is...complicated. I guess you could call it natural talent?" She laughed. "Don't tell me that you've never seen a channel before. Well, I guess it _is_ rare. Even Pein has only ever seen me."

_Even Pein_, huh. There was something seriously strange about those two. If they were enemies, neither one of them had scored off the other. If they were allies, it was a shaky alliance at best, from the way they treated each other. They were obviously an important piece in each other's existence, but what that presence signified was anyone's guess.

"Pein?"

"He's the Akatsuki leader."

"And your relationship with him would be?"

She smiled. "He's Akatsuki. That makes him my prey." She carefully removed his hand, met his stare. "Same as your brother. Who you should probably take pity on and kill before that fungus attaches any more firmly around his lungs. Suffocation isn't pretty, unless it's up close and personal. Of course, it's not very pretty then, but at least it's more satisfying."

And she wondered why those guards had accused her of cannibalism.

"Fungus?" He repeated.

"It came from the rice ball," she answered. "The mixture breaks up when it hits the stomach, and normally becomes helpful proteins, but when mixed with water it tends to solidify. The helpful agents lose potency, while the negative factors stick to your insides, mixing into your bloodstream or attaching themselves to the outside of your lungs and bleeding through them like a highly corrosive acid. And the instant they get some air, they start to transform into a fungus. At which point you have two days maximum before the fungus either breaks down your lungs, or they fill up too rapidly with liquid for your blood to have enough oxygen to support life.

"In either case, you're dead. Congratulations. You just killed yourself."

She laughed and, once more, grabbed his arm. She raised her head and, despite being more than a head shorter than he was, he had the most bizarre feeling that she was whispering into his ear. Unlike with Sasuke, she did not meet his eyes. There was nothing important behind them. "But I can save you. If _he_ tells me to. And if you can get me what I want."

"What you want?"

She let him go, turning to walk away. "I just want Naruto."

"He's already dead."

She let out a quiet breath of air, a sad ghost of a sigh.

"I know."

* * *

"Is there something seriously wrong with that girl's brain?" The louder of Sasuke's male companions queried. "And I thought Karin was crazy."

_Thought_? Did he mean that in past tense?

"First she's dead, then she's not-dead. Then she's stealing chakra like a vampire, starting wars with Akatsuki, and now she's running after a corpse. There is definitely a missing piece in this girl's brain." He looked at Sasuke. "Why did we have to run after her again? The world would be a much saner place without her in it."

He only gave the barest hint of paying attention. "Shut up. If you don't want to be here, you can leave."

He made a disgusted sound. "Yeah, right. Now that Kisame's gone, what am I going to do? Who knows where his sword went to?"

Itachi glanced at him. "Ask _her._ Since she was the one who killed him, it stands to reason that she would know."

He looked completely horrified. "You're kidding. That _brat _took out one of the _Seven Swordsmen of the Mist_? _How_?"

That statement had also drawn Sasuke's attention, he noticed, and there was an equal amount of disbelief there. So. Haruno Sakura hadn't been that visible prior to his younger brother's defection. "She claims to have punched his heart out. But I wasn't able to witness it."

"Is that even possible?" The girl asked in disbelief.

Sasuke looked away. "Who knows."

The boy lifted his hands, visibly rejecting the concept. "No way. It's not possible."

"Regardless of who killed him, Kisame _is_ dead." Itachi followed the Konoha kunoichi with his eyes, watching her pull jars out of her bag, all of them sealed air-tight. There was a decided dreaminess to her movements, as if her mind was only halfway on what she was doing; still, there was no hint that she was even paying attention to them. She was even whistling.

"And whether she killed him or not, she was the last person seen fighting him, and she was found with his dead body," he concluded. "Without the sword it'll be that much harder to verify, and she won't be as likely to get that much of the bounty."

She seemed to flinch, slightly, her hand knocking over one of the jars. She moved them back into place, posture suddenly tense and wavering, as if she were cold. He was too far away to catch the details, and he swore silently at the loss. Shisui hovered around her, but opted to stay out of swinging distance. She ignored him.

"Sakura." Sasuke interrupted. "What are you doing?"

She pulled a pot out of her bag. "Cooking. Why? Any requests?" Her voice was decidedly stiff.

"Stop it." He crossed his arms. "Didn't you want to go after Naruto?"

"I have no chakra, I've slept maybe two hours this past month and, thanks to your brother, I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours. I feel like hell, so unless you have some valid reason for me _not_ to cook here...? It's not as though I'm asking _you _to eat anything."

"More rice balls?" Itachi asked.

"Mhm." This time when she reached into her bag, it was to pull out a bottle of water. "Do you want some?"

"That guard said that eating them for extended periods of time had risks."

"It does," she agreed. "Some of the components speed up the aging of your cells, while the acidic components slowly dig a hole in your liver. But since you only had one, you shouldn't have to worry about those effects for a couple more weeks, assuming that you only have one a day."

And when they'd met, she'd been eating one every few hours... "How long have you been eating these?" He queried. "Shouldn't a medic-nin take better care of her body?"

"About that...you don't have to worry about it." She flashed a smile at him over her shoulder. "Come on. I'll show you my mother's famous recipe."

'_Famous_' was more likely to be 'infamous', but he moved over anyway. He made sure to stay well out of reach; whatever side she happened to be on now, it was impossible to forget that her goal was the annihilation of Akatsuki. Of whom he'd been wearing the cloak until...sometime the day before.

The flood made it impossible to guess where that cloak was now.

Honestly, she made him acutely aware of how much money was on his own head.

"Are you feeling all right?" She asked.

"Are you?" He countered. That question never deserved an answer, according to the Uchiha family tradition. It happened to be one of their golden rules, right alongside _never show emotions in public _and _never say a word more than necessary_. Admitting any kind of weakness went against everything he'd ever been taught.

Similarly, she avoided the question, removing a small can of rice. "When you use the Sharingan, do you still have color, or is everything red?"

He raised one eyebrow. "Your eyes are green. Does that effect your vision?"

She waved one hand, not even looking at him. "That's complicated. Two people never see anything the same. Or, if they did, you'd never be able to prove it, because their eyes process information differently. Similarly, their _brains_ process information differently. So it's impossible to answer--two people never have the same idea of what green _is_. So whether or not it effects my vision is inconsequential.

"On the other hand, _your _eyes _change _color when you use the Sharingan. I heard that it promotes clarity, which makes it easier to memorize and mimic certain things--which includes, but is not limited to, certain jutsu. So I was wondering how it effects your color perception."

"Why?"

"Because I was exercising a theory that Bloodline eye jutsu, such as your Sharingan, are given their color from the elements in the bloodline. For example, the Uchiha are natural fire users. The Chinese color for the element fire is red. Hence the color of your Sharingan."

He shook his head slowly. "I see that the size of your forehead isn't just for looks."

She glared at him. "What's that?"

"I only said that your thought process is intriguing," he said. "What else are you thinking?"

"That I really can't tell if you're being serious or not." She spilled the rice into the pot. "Jerk."

He laughed quietly. Of course not; that had been the entire point.

* * *

Without a doubt, his brother was not happy. Itachi saw through the pretense with ease, only slightly surprised that Sasuke had not become an entirely different person after all these years.

Though honestly, he was a little surprised as to _why_ his little brother was so impatient.

"Would you be quiet, already?" He snapped, abandoning all pretenses of ignoring the goings-on around the campfire. "You're driving me crazy."

Sakura smiled at him. "Yes, Sasuke-kun? Was there something?"

"Your whistling," he said flatly. "It's annoying."

"But I remember things better this way," she protested. "I learned from Mother that all circumstances have a pattern. Patterns naturally make you think of music, don't they? We're not all geniuses from the Uchiha family, you know. Some people have to compensate."

"That's a different tune from last time," Itachi noticed. "Wouldn't memorizing a pattern mean copying it?"

The look she gave him was almost sympathetic. "When you see a jutsu with your Sharingan, do you always copy it 'as is', without feeling the need to improve upon it?" She repeated the last two bars of her song, and stopped midway between one note, merging that part of the melody with sections of the first half. "It's very simple to rearrange something until it's closer to the 'truth.' Don't you think so?"

"Under these circumstances, I don't know what you mean by 'truth.'"

"Sasuke-kun," she said, turning her attention back to the flame. "Do you know where 'truth' is?"

Itachi watched his little brother avert his gaze, feigning impatience. "Who are you asking?"

"Unless you know the answer to that question, it's impossible," she said, removing the rice from the heat. "Both to learn that jutsu and...to change the past."

"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. "The past can't be changed."

"Do you think so?" She asked and smiled, looking relieved. "You're probably right. Even if that sort of jutsu did exist, it's unlikely that we'll ever find it in this lifetime. And even if we did, it's impossible to make things the way we want."

"Are you trying to be an idiot?" Sasuke said, eyes stubbornly facing away. "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one."

"What does that mean to a twelve-year-old, I wonder." She laughed. "You really haven't changed at all, Sasuke-kun. You still know exactly what to say to make me relax."

His stomach clenched, and his head throbbed; Itachi struggled to keep his expression impassive, watching Sasuke. The expressions on his brother's face were complicated and minuscule: annoyance and frustration and helplessness, and other emotions, far less easy to name.

Eventually, his brother just closed his eyes. "I wish that I could say the same. You've just become an even bigger idiot."

He stood, brushing dirt off of his knees. "Excuse me," he said. It was starting to get uncomfortable. That was all. No brother wanted to listen to his younger sibling flirting...particularly not with a Goddess like Haruno Sakura. And it was horrendously uncomfortable that his younger brother could treat that Goddess as another human, while he himself was so in awe of her.

He hated that always, always, her eyes could never find him. Whenever they touched him, it was always as an object; even her friendly hands, her healing hands, were always so impersonal.

They both turned slightly, so that he was visible from at least the corner of their eyes; neither one was an idiot. But their conversation was done; Sakura's expression had lost its half-smile, and once again her eyes narrowed as if she were fighting a migraine.

"Jealous?" Shisui queried, hovering next to him.

He closed his eyes. "Shut up."

The ghost laughed. "What? Am I right? You really are jealous of your brother, over _that _little brat?" He laughed again. "Didn't you think she was such a detestable creature before?"

"I don't recall ever saying that."

"Well, I guess so." Shisui scratched his head. "It was, what? Eleven, twelve years ago? You said you felt sorry for me, because I was stuck with her."

"I have no recollection."

"You probably had other things on your mind at the time." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter if you remember or not. But your father would be hysterical if he knew that you were interested in something like _that_."

"_That_, huh?" That was right. There was something like the Haruno segregation, wasn't there? She's mentioned something like that. He'd forgotten; the guarding of that family had never been his responsibility.

But he might remember something with pink hair, right there, on the edge of his memory. He couldn't find it right now, but it was possible. Had he really said something like that? Twelve years ago, she'd only been a child; he hadn't been all that much older.

Even if he had said that, did it even matter in the first place? He knew more than anyone that he no longer had any right to his past; not the bright things, or the warm things.

A memory of her from so long ago meant nothing. Whether it was then or now, her eyes had probably never been on him.

"Do you think it's possible?" Shisui asked, watching with bored fascination as Sakura went about shaping the rice balls. "Changing the past, I mean."

"Are you interested?" That was probably as close as he could get to asking if his friend regretted dying; coming from the killer, it was probably as close as he would ever be able to. Even that vaguely, it sounded rude to him.

"A little," the ghost said. "Aren't you curious? How a little crybaby could become that powerful. How she can touch me. And how she's still alive? I want to know."

"Maybe a little," he acknowledged. "But would you find the past in memories?"

"Of course not." A rock was kicked with expert aim through Shisui's chest, rebounded off the three behind him and made a return trip through the back of his head. Sakura continued her approach nonchalantly and moved to sit down next to him. "Memories are just a story you're telling yourself all the time, aren't they? Don't you think that, at any time at all, someone can pick up the pen and rewrite them for you?" She reached one hand out, index finger extended, and almost boredly poked him in the forehead. "If you're a different person today than you were yesterday, the question is this: Are you to blame or is someone else?"

"So changing the past would only be a form of mental suggestion?"

She placed a rice ball in his hand, chose one for herself. "Yes and no. Memories can be completely changed at any time, usually after some kind of traumatic occurrence. But those memories would only effect yourself, wouldn't they? Nothing would really be changed. As an example, I could say that your family all died of illness. But even if you believed that, the incident is well documented; on top of that, other people will remember differently. For so many people to die, this sickness in itself would be suspicious, as it left both you and your brother alive.

"In your story, you would be the main character, but there are still others participating in the story. We would also have to change the memories of everyone who had ever heard of your family's fate. We would have to arrange the evidence until it said, 'These people died of illness.'"

"I see."

"In that case, it would only be a matter of changing the form of the impact," she said, taking a bite. "We could even divide it into deaths over a period of time; making bodies long dead appear more recent isn't so difficult. But that large a change can only be done gradually, when you aren't aware. For instance, while you're asleep?"

"Would that explain why you don't sleep?" He asked, and she flinched.

"It's possible that I'm afraid of closing my eyes," she said, a smile slowly forming. "Who can say?"

"Who is changing your past?"

"The reason for my existence, probably," she polished off her rice ball and stood again. "Eat up. We're leaving in four minutes."

He watched her leave and looked at the rice ball suspiciously. She really was something, giving him something like this. Of course, if it was true that he was dying, there was no reason for her not to give him one. But it had been one of these that made him sick in the first place.

He sighed and took a bite.

Now if only they didn't taste so bad.

* * *

Amazingly, no one asked where they were going. The group all picked up their belongings, strapped them to their backs. Their burdens were in no way proportionate; Itachi himself had nothing but the clothes on his back whereas Sakura was the one most burdened, with a heavy bag as well as her wooden case.

From the way that she'd complained about being tired, he was surprised that she didn't ask him to help her. But she accepted the heavy burden with ease, in a gesture that he recognized all too well.

Haruno Sakura was a person who depended on no one. She was a lone operator.

She was entirely alone. And he had a feeling that if she ever saw the Kyuubi's body, it would be the straw that broke the camel's back. She would never be able to recover from that, the only thing that was keeping her alive.

On the other side of the group, Sasuke moved to Sakura's side, talking to her in a lowered voice. It was too far for him to hear what was said, especially with the annoying loud mouth's constant chatter and the banshee's screeching response to his stupidity.

Itachi caught Shisui's eye and inclined his head, gesturing for the ghost to eavesdrop on the pair's conversation. But almost the moment he flashed into range, the two were separating, Sakura running away to leap onto a lower tree branch, bouncing up higher.

He watched her with raised eyebrows; that in itself was proof that she worked alone. A group of ninja might tend to run on branches, but they didn't often stick to treetops. They ran just above eye shot, so that they could jump down to kill their prey quickly and without fuss. Sakura was making sure that she wouldn't be noticed until they were specifically looking for her, and probably not even then.

Sasuke followed along after her, and then Itachi and the rest moved simultaneously to join them. They did not climb quite as high as Sakura did, but Sasuke made sure that she stayed within eye shot.

Itachi bounced higher to run alongside her, both of them landing on one branch after another with relative ease. It was amazing how graceful she was. Traditionally, it wouldn't even be called gracefulness; you certainly couldn't liken it to a gazelle. But he could find no other word for it. It was movement with purpose, easy and simple.

"Where to?" He asked conversationally.

She pointed ahead of her. "That way," she said.

He could certainly see that, but... "What's that way?" He asked. He had several guesses, the geography a map in his head, but they could have turned around several times since then and despite all claims otherwise, his memory was less than perfect.

"Pein," she said simply. "He's moving now, but he'll be stopping before long. He'll hate it if I miss him."

He looked at her for a long moment, dumbfounded. "How do you know?"

"How else?" She shrugged. She didn't even turn her head. He might as well just be a voice on the air. "He's not trying to hide anything. In fact, I wish he would just shut up already. _Yes, I'm talking to you_. Damn rank bastard. I don't know how you ever put up with him, and I've been _in_ your head."

He continued to stare. "How do you know him?"

She actually laughed. "Who do you think made me a Goddess in the first place?"

"What's wrong?" There was the slightest strain in her voice, just visible enough to alarm him. It was a weakness he hadn't believed was possible for this person, who was so high above all else.

"This fairy tale is driving me crazy," she finally said. "It's like he's drilling it into my skull with white-hot nails. Don't talk to me. I can barely think right now."

Fairy tales? It took him all of two seconds to make the connection. The past. The one who was rewriting Sakura's past was Pein. And it was impossible now to think that the procedure was painless. What he could see of her skin, already pale, was ghost white, almost transparent, the blueness of her veins showing through clearly.

That would explain her alarm after she'd fainted.

She was sweating, barely breathing. But even then, her steps did not falter; she was the perfect shinobi. Even an attack like this, so high above his best genjutsu, did not completely immobilize her. Rather than fold, she continued to soldier on.

_Who do you think made me a Goddess in the first place_? She'd asked him that question before, rhetorically, almost a joke, but then it hadn't made sense. The sense it made now was uncanny. Pein was rewriting her past; he was rewriting her as a Goddess.

It was like a brand of ownership. And that explained so much. Her impotent rage, mirrored by the Akatsuki leader's protective possessiveness; that mysterious, deep connection.

Abruptly, Sakura drew to a halt. His foot slid off the branch midstep, and he just barely kept from falling by immediately applying chakra to the bottoms of his feet. He looked up at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

The next branch over, she stood looking at him--at him and _through _him, an unreadable expression on her face. "I forgot something," she said quietly. She jumped from her branch to his, landing lightly on one foot and moving closer to him silently.

Sasuke and his companions had caught the hint and also moved closer, jumping up several levels until they were within earshot. Sasuke was looking at her.

"Sakura."

She immediately stepped back, away from him, and her eyes locked on Sasuke. For someone with any kind of pessimistic imagination--of which he had a lot of--you might call that movement guilty.

Itachi straightened into a crouch, rocking back on his heels so that he didn't require chakra to keep him in place. He turned his head away from his brother, saying in a quiet, toneless voice, "Shisui."

As close as she was, Sakura wouldn't be able to miss it; but the others wouldn't hear.

"What's wrong?" His brother's voice was quiet and firm and inescapable, a warm, solid presence that would give her balance and stability. Hadn't she said something like that? Sasuke knew exactly what to say to make her relax.

Inwardly, Itachi grit his teeth, trying to stifle the surge of jealousy. Luckily, the ghost flashed into existence almost immediately, distracting him from the pair's quiet conversation.

Shisui gave him a long, impatient glare as he floated in the air, dropping onto the branch purely for continuity purposes. "I'm not a dog, you know," he complained. "I'm here to watch your back, not play fetch. I hate responding to whispers."

"I never thought so," Itachi said quietly in an attempt to placate him. For one thing, his friend was too intelligent, too aloof, and unlikely to go for an obvious, straightforward attack. If anything, you could only call him a cat. "I was merely going to ask you to watch Sakura. Your eyes see more than mine."

The annoyance in the ghost's black stare only sharpened. "Watch her?" He repeated. "I finished that job years ago. And she's a lot more dangerous to me now than she was then. A ghost can't do squat to hurt a body."

He jerked suddenly as if something had slapped him, retreating, blurring into a series of afterimages. Itachi looked behind him, trying to find the thing that had frightened him, and noticed that the pink-haired kunoichi was watching him, an unreadable expression on her face. Behind her, his brother glanced around, saw only Itachi, and, with marked impatience, said her name.

"Sakura."

She turned immediately, and the pair started discussing again. Itachi focused on his ears so that he could hear their lowered voices, but was promptly interrupted by Shisui.

"Watch her, huh?" He said thoughtfully, reappearing as though nothing had happened. He still looked over Itachi's shoulder at the girl as though she was a snake, both willing and able to bite at any time. "Why not? I was planning on it, anyway."

"And?" Sasuke's voice interrupted his thoughts, louder than before, and Itachi turned his eyes quickly and cautiously toward his brother, and the small girl who turned naturally to look at him, turned firmly away from the ghost.

"It just occurred to me that I don't know any of your friends," she said, almost cheerfully, and had both of his eyebrows shooting up. He didn't have to look very hard to know that his doubt and disbelief was mirrored on Sasuke's face.

"We aren't friends," he said after a long moment.

She laughed. "You and me, or you and them?"

The glare was almost audible. "Both."

"I never thought otherwise," she said, and shifted her footing slightly. For just an instant, Itachi couldn't tell whether the gesture was innocent--or the delibarate move of a skirmisher, preparing to strike and disappear with new knowledge of possible adversaries. "Shall I introduce myself?"

Sasuke had noticed, and recognized, the very same threat he had. "That isn't necessary," he said. "Suigetsu. Karin. Juugo."

The smaller male raised his hand at his name, and the female shifted her stance. The giant, however, remained immobile as animals fluttered around to land on his arms and shoulders. And now, at least, Itachi had names to match with silhouettes.

"I see," Sakura said.

"And speaking of which," Suigetsu said, annoyance giving his voice a sharp edge. "Is it all right that I ask if you know where we're going?"

She lifted a hand slowly, almost innocently extending one finger over her right shoulder, pointing both behind her and further in that direction. "That way," she said sweetly. "Why? You wouldn't happen to have a map on you anywhere, would you?"

"Do you have any idea what's over that way?" He said after a tense moment, and disbelief joined with annoyance. It was perfectly easy to discern that he thought she was an idiot. Which wasn't much of a change in his first impression. He slung his bag off of his shoulder, pulling a map out of it.

"Less screaming," she said. She scrambled up to his level with relative ease, her vertical jump being pretty unimpressive, since it wasn't chakra enhanced. She straightened slowly, walking down the trunk to stand closer to him. "Or more screaming. Depending on when you get there, and your point of view."

"Ever hear that you're insane?"

"A time or two."

He unrolled the map, and they both ducked down over it, pointing out different paths and suddenly arguing almost companionably, exchanging insults in lowered voices.

Itachi waited patiently below while Sasuke moved up toward their level as well, to stand beside Karin and listen while she consulted him quietly, the redhead looking again and again, in horror, in suspicion, at the seemingly innocent pink-haired kunoichi who crouched not ten feet away.

He wasn't surprised; it was very easy to smell the moisture in the air, the static sense that was Pein in the wind.

After a long minute, Sakura rose again, rocking back onto her heels as she found her feet under her again. Suigetsu rolled the map up, strangely businesslike.

"Well," she said. "That's the plan then."

The giant called Juugo continued to look at the sky, and the birds on his shoulders chittered for a moment before quieting, making themselves smaller so that the blurring shape of his cape seemed to tremble.

"It's going to storm," he said.

"We have a minute left," Sakura assured him. "But we need to get to shelter, fast."

She jumped back down to Itachi's level, landing lightly an arms' length away before she continued on, resuming the pace she had halted temporarily.

"Screaming?" He asked politely in a lowered voice.

"You'll figure it out," she said. And didn't glance back once.

* * *

The electric charge in the air was high, the storm imminent, when everything was brought to an entirely new level.

Whatever the relationship between his brother and Sakura had once been, it was clear that they had broken into opposite teams in these conditions. Itachi and she balanced on one side, while Sasuke stood between them and the other three--not quite on their team, either.

Every time he glanced at her, he looked for the same tension in her body. But it was mysteriously absent, and her high energy never paused. She continued to look, not quite desperately, for the shelter she and Suigetsu had decided on.

They were still looking when things decided to go south.

They were passing a water channel, a tense Sakura taking point, when the birds alighting Juugo's shoulders abruptly fled amidst loud twittering. Animal corpses floated in the water, painting the landscape red, but they were not alone. With the pets and vermin and livestock was the body of a child, and a man caught between the stones they stepped on.

Sakura prodded the man with the toe of one boot on her way past, taking into account his bloated face, nearly impossible to identify. His clothing choice was all too easy to recognize, however. The man was a thief. She ducked down to grab him by the collar, flinging him toward shore. His arms and legs were virtually destroyed, decayed and eaten up to his knees and arms, leaving shredded sleeves and pant legs fluttering like a banner, flapping like a scarecrow.

She wiped the red staining her hand on the corner of her cropped kimono. "How very Earth Country," she observed grimly. "Tainting everything they touch."

She moved significantly quicker to the child, who wasn't in as bad a condition, washed up on the shore. Its clothes were stereotypical farmer boy. A boy who got too close to the channel during a flood and had his footing break away.

She crouched beside him, touching his shoulder to gently turn him over. Itachi, standing behind her, felt his stomach clench. The boy's face was missing. Bugs crawled around in the empty cavity, making themselves at home in the bloody, shredded muscle.

She was lowering him back to the ground when they heard the growling.

Itachi tensed, scanning quickly for the creature making the sound. Shisui wasn't there, watching his back and pointing out supposed dangers; he had no real idea until he noticed that Sakura shifted just slightly to put herself between him and the threat. And then he saw it.

The ragged black fur that stuck up in all directions, stained and matted with dried blood. The gruesome square muzzle, the large fangs. The wild golden eyes that stained red around the edges. A wild dog--or a wolf, if you wanted to get technical. A very common threat in Earth Country.

Particularly around the water channels, where they had ready access to food whenever it rained.

"Shit."

That definitely explained the faceless child.

Sakura backed away a step, hands held high. And continued to keep her body between him and the dog. But really, what did she expect to happen? That he was in danger from the dog, or the dog to be in danger from him?

The step of retreat only served to incite the dog to attack, and he saw--or heard, he wasn't sure which--that his brother and the others were somehow delayed in the middle of the stones. He heard their voices and he felt--very clearly--the instant when Sakura grabbed his arm, pushing him out of the way when he would have tripped over the other body in his attempt to avoid the dog.

Almost simultaneously, he heard a roar from the path, and the sound of splashing. A scream.

This time, it was him who reached for her, half carrying her out of the dog's range. He heard a muttered sound of disbelief in his ear, a message without words, and watched as the dog dove for the path and landed on his brother's back.

His brother, who didn't notice, because he was instead focused on Juugo, who had somehow mutated in the seconds they hadn't been looking. Wings grew from his back, scales formed, a tail slashed. Fangs gained in size until they no longer fit his face.

Suigetsu had his sword out and was already attacking his companion, an expression of bloodthirsty glee on his face as he struck. But the scales kept the blade from penetrating his defense, and Juugo grabbed the sword's blade in his hand, using it to bring Suigetsu closer to that fanged mouth.

Sakura said, again: "Shit."

He almost laughed, because it was so completely the perfect word for this scenario; in fact, he couldn't believe that it was this girl rather than himself--or more likely, of course, certainly, absolutely Shisui--who was saying it.

Karin was half on the water, half under the water, using chakra to hold her position, fighting a current that was still strong and very likely to sweep her under and past the rocks, and any sharp stakes that could easily kill her. Sasuke was on the path, attempting to maintain his position and dispose of a rabid dog that saw only food, while simultaneously avoiding the attacks of his deranged companion and overenthusiastic attacker.

Sakura lay her hand on his shoulder. "Get the dog," she said, and slid off of his back. "Just give me two seconds to get into position."

_One_.

He counted it on an exhale, inclining his head. She dropped her backpack on the ground, set her case down slightly more gently. She moved sideways like a crab, sliding left until she was on the edge of the water.

_Two_.

She shot off like a flash, chakra giving her a perfect launch across the water. She landed on Suigetsu's shoulders, just in the range of Juugo's neck blow, and her hand glowed green as she deflected the attack.

Itachi launched himself at _Three_, slightly less gracefully. He helped himself to one of Sakura's kunai, lying innocently within reach on the top of her bag, and it hit the dog in the teeth with the handle, the blade inches away from his brother's face, effectively drawing the dog's attention away from biting of little brother's face off. Sasuke reached up, grabbed the dog by its mangy fur, and shoved it into the current. Then, almost impatiently, he grabbed Karin's arm, pulling her to the same stepping stone he himself held onto.

Both Uchiha watched Sakura with Sharingan-red interest.

Suigetsu attempted to throw her off while Juugo swung at her now with a wing that shifted, grew larger, thicker and more dexterous like a mace, the shredded arm a minor concern. She grabbed the hammer-like end, using it to pull her away from the Mist Country native, and her hand shifted from a green glow abruptly to that sharp spiral of chakra.

Itachi recognized what she intended a second after his brother did.

"Sakura, no!"

She stopped moving as though someone had flicked a switch, and instantly a new growth started on Juugo's back, grabbing and capturing her arm and preventing her from moving. The mace-like wing absorbed her other arm, and she lay there for a very long eternity, trapped like a spider.

She'd distracted Juugo for long enough. Suigetsu had regained possession of his sword, and held it high, ready to use. Sasuke was already starting to push himself back up onto the surface to rescue her, and Itachi was a split second from attacking the boy, when Juugo abruptly fell over backwards, the mutation melting away.

He landed on top of Sakura who caught him, half laying on the water as she used his chakra to keep them both afloat.

"Thanks for the meal," she said in a very quiet voice.

Both Uchiha--and Suigetsu--all stared at her. Karin choked on water, scrambling up, herself. She returned their stare levelly, and cocked one eyebrow at the Mist native. "Give me a hand. The man weighs a ton."

After a second, he moved--but it was still all too easy for them to hear her whisper in his ear, "If you try to do something stupid like that again, I'll tear your lungs out. Stay out of my way."

The look he gave her was almost frightened, and Itachi thought that he knew attitude and self-confidence when he saw it. The Goddess had terrorized him into obedience. That in itself was still completely unexpected.

They pulled Juugo to land quickly, and she lay him down beside the two dead bodies, which had Itachi almost worried until he noticed that the large man was still breaking very shallowly. Sakura pulled her bag over, pulling several chemicals out of it, yet again in a system that was almost random. She mixed them quickly and expertly, measuring the chemicals by eye as she tossed this and that into it--including the spices that she seemed to carry everywhere.

She filled a needle with the mixture and injected it into Juugo's neck.

"His metabolism is incredibly fast," Karin informed her, which was so completely obvious that they both stared at her. "That's not going to work," she concluded, almost desperately.

"Doesn't have to," Sakura said. "It only has to work for two minutes, tops--which should be as long as it takes for us to get away from here. It should numb his senses enough that he doesn't lose control."

"Want to give me a copy of the recipe?" Suigetsu asked pseudo-innocently. As one, they all gave him one long look, while he tried to look innocent. "What? Just asking."

"Sorry, I don't know you well enough to share my mother's recipes," she said. She was already pulling something else out of her bag--smelling salts. Why would she have smelling salts? What was the point? Never mind, he didn't want to know. She flicked them under the giant's nose, and, when he started to rouse--sneezing, because the stuff was strong and not meant to be employed in large doses--she leaned over his face to make absolutely certain that she was visible.

"You awake? Good. We need to get out of here."

It took less than ten seconds for her to shoulder her bag, toss Itachi her case, and throw the warm, compliant and very groggy Juugo's arm over her shoulders. They were mobile almost immediately after that. But now it was almost impossible for them to stick to the trees.

Not, he supposed, that it was supposed to deter a Goddess very much. He did not doubt at all that she would have continued to move if she'd had to carry not just Juugo, but Suigetsu and his giant sword if she had to. She was that determined.

That didn't stop her from pausing to check the thief's pockets--and then the little boy's--for anything of value. He didn't say anything.

She'd probably heard it all, anyway.

* * *

**Note**: Hey, my birthday's today! This story is officially a year old now. And I'm still working on it. If I'd stuck to schedule, I'd have been finished sometime last September, but, well--you saw how well that worked out. Despite the many distractions and attacks of writer's block, and Sakura persistantly telling a secretive, disbelieving, impatient Neji that he's in love with her, I have finally finished this chapter! _And _it's over 7000 words long; go me.

Also, believe it or not, Itachi actually decided to play nice this time around. So I got very lucky. And next chapter is Sasuke, who probably won't play as well.

And as for all the disbelief at Sakura's proclamation at the end of the last chapter, I gave a couple of details in this one. But there aren't going to be many _real_ answers until chapter 10, if then.

Thank you **HinataHyuuga211**, **TeenageCrisis**, **Pandastacia**, **Anonymous**, **Ita-ta**, **Hao'sAnjul**, **Takara Makoto**, **dark Alley**, **midnight000shadow**, **Hiei's Cute Girl**, **dark-angel-of-the-past** and **camya **for reviewing!


	9. Sasuke: Hunter and Light

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

**An Armed Truce**

Part Eight: Hunter and Light

_I don't believe in fate, I don't believe in destiny_

_I only see the you that is mine, the you that no longer exists._

In less than twenty-four hours, his world had not only been turned on its head, it had frozen like a block of ice, ripping the nails off his fingers as he grabbed desperately to hold onto what remained of his sanity.

Three years ago, it would never have occurred to him that Sakura--that small, insignificant thing that was always looking at him, like a bright piece of sunshine--was the only thing that prevented him from killing his brother and avenging his entire clan. And she wasn't even in his way; she'd told him, over and over again, to kill his brother. Itachi was a danger, a liability. He was the enemy; he was Akatsuki. He could betray them at any moment.

And if _that _wasn't enough, he still completely hated the bastard.

So why wasn't Itachi dead yet?

Sakura was the first one in the shelter, the rotting building that stood in the middle of nowhere, half drowned in plant life--in flowers that made him think, bizarrely, of that story she'd told them just that afternoon. She went in quickly, before he could, and checked around before giving the all's clear. And then she halfway carried Juugo into the room, despite the giant being almost completely awake by then.

Sasuke almost wanted to snarl at that. _Sakura_--the _real_ Sakura, the one he'd known, who _loved _him--was his, and she had no right to touch anything that didn't belong to that side of his life. The past and the present should never melt together like that. He shouldn't be looking at her anymore, and he _damn_ sure shouldn't be so _uncertain_ all the time. Four minutes ago, he'd been positive that she was going to kill that man. That wasn't something that should ever have struck him as possible.

But this Sakura wasn't in love with him, wasn't allied with him. Was so separate from him, he would have thanked the gods if she'd only been like this years before.

And he knew without a doubt that she completely hated him.

Not for something he did. Not really.

She helped him onto the floor, her pale hand glowing green for a short moment, and Juugo collapsed again, unconscious. Sakura slid her bag off of her shoulders, dropping it onto the ground beside her, and managed to get the Juugo's bag off of him almost without shifting him. The bag, too, was set neatly beside the giant's head, with her prepping the corners to remove any wrinkles they might get slouched there, giving both bags--and the case she unceremoniously snatched from Itachi the instant he stepped in the door--a neat, homelike feel.

She didn't even wrinkle her nose at the mildewy scent--but he did. He also glanced at the ceiling, with its dark splotches, and wondered if the roof would hold up once it started raining. It certainly wouldn't be able to keep much water out, that was for sure.

He wanted to ask how long until the rain started, but with Juugo unconscious and his animal informers gone, there was no way to tell. Of course, then, with a crash of thunder, the rain started pouring, and he figured it was a moot point. At least the house was near the top of the incline; they were less likely to find the place fill with water. Provided that the roof held.

Sakura's sudden movement drew his attention, and he watched as she went into her bag to pull out a knife.

"Sakura," he said sharply. She didn't drop the weapon, but she did glance at him. "What are you doing?"

"Reinforcing our shelter," she said. And stabbed herself.

He swore, reaching for her--almost in unison with his brother, he couldn't help but notice. Her knife was knocked with a clatter on the floor, and he was momentarily distracted by the unusual color, the purest silver blurring with the deepest red. Her blood seemed to melt into the silver, and for an instant he was so dizzy that he almost threw up. He regained control swiftly, tightening his grip on her arm--he held onto her so tightly that he knew bruises would be forming on that pale skin under his fingers, and he immediately let go.

"It's fine," she reassured them--reassured Itachi, since he was still holding onto her. "Let go."

She stood and swiftly went to the frame of the shelter, holding her left hand up like an easel, using her thumb and fingers to stab into the cut on her palm and draw complex symbols on the wood. She drew swiftly, using more blood than she had to so that it wouldn't be absorbed by the mildew or be blurred by the rain that fell, as he'd predicted, through the ceiling. Still, it didn't take her very long at all. The instant she finished she started forming a rapid series of hand seals, and her blood started to glow--and then extend up the walls until it reached the ceiling.

In just a few seconds, the rain that fell from the ceiling slowed until it almost stopped completely, and she collapsed.

Itachi caught her--Sasuke was still too busy looking at the ceiling, the walls, in stunned disbelief. She was lowered gently to the ground and she sat there on her knees, holding onto consciousness with a monumental show of willpower. Sasuke turned to look at her.

"What did you do?" He demanded.

She took a deep breath, almost panting. She looked at him almost sideways, her eyebrow raised in that almost unfamiliar expression. "Blood contract," she said. She picked up the strange knife, cleaning the wicked sharp blade on fabric that had to be too thin for it, but still didn't tear, and put the knife back into her bag. "I turned back the tree's time. Lucky it's all the same kind of wood." She caught his stare and smiled. "My father's jutsu. And one of the treasures of the Suzuki clan."

"Blood contract?" He repeated.

"When you use the chakra in your blood to protect life," she said. She leaned over the giant's body, checking his body temperature with the back of her hand. "Luckily your friend here has so much chakra, or it would have been impossible for me to manage. I lost about a third of it when I was converting."

The hand on Juugo's forehead suddenly made sense. She was checking to see if she'd stolen enough to kill him.

"The wood in here is still alive?" Itachi asked curiously, glancing up at the ceiling. Sasuke agreed with the disbelief the question implied. Most living wood didn't mildew like that.

"In a sense," she said. "The growth outside covers the entire structure completely. You could say that the chakra I fed into the wood only made it more attractive to the vines climbing outside; they've been encouraged to grow in a short amount of time, and will eventually merge completely with the shelter. The shelter will then be classified as alive. And, of course, we'll no longer be in danger of having the ceiling collapse." He noticed that the last sentence had been directed at him, and at his look she smiled at him. "Your worries are completely transparent."

He almost slapped his hands over his face to hide it. He'd thought that he was completely without expression; his impassive face had been one of the things to intimidate his foes. And of course, Sakura could see right through him.

"And would this blood contract have anything to do with your last jutsu?" Itachi asked.

"My improvisation on my father's jutsu," she said. "A ring of protection. The amount of chakra in the things inside determine how high the protection stands, while the size of the circle surrounding it determines how wide. And, of course, what's inside cannot come outside, and everything but myself, or anything else with my blood, cannot pass through it. Anything that comes into contact is turned into pure chakra that is funneled into my body. The shield remains in place until I remove it, or until I'm dead. Of course, once enough mass is converted to chakra I develop an excess, which allows me to use other jutsu that I normally wouldn't have the chakra for. For example, a fan of chakra that can repel anything physical--weapons or opponents. The excess also allows me to convert jutsu used against me into more chakra, which then allows me to use more explosive techniques."

"So in other words, they have to kill you before you develop an excess," Sasuke concluded. "Or before you even draw that ring of protection. Or you're almost invincible."

She smiled. "Correct," she said. "And of course, you have to be a channel to use this ability effectively. Or you need something with a lot of chakra in a very small package, or your ring of protection may turn out to be only a couple of inches tall. You at least need it to be waist-high, or it's unlikely that your opponent will ever run into it. And if he or she notices you trying to get them into range of it, they're going to be extra careful to avoid it."

"How often have you used that jutsu?"

She shrugged. "Several times in practice, a couple in live combat," she answered. "It was originally designed to use when I was working in tandem with Shino. His bugs are faster than I am at both cutting into my skin and then drawing the circle. They're also there for the cleanup, which is almost as important."

"Cleanup?" Itachi repeated.

She actually laughed, reaching for her bag again, this time to pull out bandages. "As someone who tries very hard to remain invisible, you can't expect me to leave my blood everywhere, can you?" She asked. It was a rhetorical question. But the statement hidden within it had Sasuke's eyebrows rising.

"What have you done, Sakura?" He demanded. His voice was very low.

"Various things," she answered vaguely. "Same as you."

That was no answer and when he opened his mouth to tell her so, she interrupted him.

"I'm not answering anything else until you explain something to me," she said firmly. She nodded towards Juugo. "What's wrong with him? He goes berserk and he can't hold a form properly. He talks to animals, which I can accept, because hey, Kiba does, too. Or at least he talks to Akamaru. _And _he has about as much chakra as Naruto on a good day--when he doesn't start using the Kyuubi chakra. So what's his problem?"

"What does it matter to you?" Karin asked.

Sasuke looked at her quickly--but turned his attention almost immediately back to Sakura, who flexed her right hand. "Are you volunteering to give me what information I need?" She asked innocently, but there was menace in her words. "I'm telling you now, I've only used my Mother's jutsu once. I don't have the confidence that it will go as well this time."

"Karin," Sasuke prompted. He tried not to sound too irritated, but what was Sakura doing trying to intimidate her way into answers?

"He's the basis for the Curse Seal forms," Karin finally answered. She sounded irritated. "His natural abilities led to the Sound scientists using his DNA to develop the Curse Seal. Unfortunately, Juugo has no control over it; he goes into a berserker rage every time the ability activates. He reacts purely upon emotion and destructive desires. However, rather than attempting to remove this flaw, Juugo was locked up in a special chamber."

"That was actually very smart," Sakura noted objectively. Sasuke looked at here in surprise--he could have sworn that she would be upset over the imprisonment. "I would have just killed him, but if you're looking for a weapon of destruction, a creature designed for it is the perfect plan for revenge. Because honestly, you can't expect to let something like that out unless you're under attack with no hope to win. I don't imagine that he would gain anything if he attempted to correct the neural passageways of this person's brain."

Almost gently, she touched the sleeping giant's head, making gentle, lazy swirls in his hair with one long finger. She watched the movement as though it was entirely unrelated to her; she was thinking.

"My mother could do it," she said, thinking aloud. She quickly reached for her bag, throwing it open to look through it. All of a sudden she was hurrying, looking for something almost desperately. And then she pulled out a book. She smiled in satisfaction and left her bag lying there, glass jars, tiny boxes, kunai and explosive tags and also clothes falling out of the open top. She sat down next to Juugo's side yet again and opened the book. She started reading almost immediately.

Sasuke stared. But when she didn't glance up even once, proving to be completely engrossed in the book, he simply sat down and made himself comfortable. He just hoped that the reinforcements she had made held up through the storm.

* * *

Suigetsu wasn't quite as good at being patient, though. While the resident Uchiha sat on the floor in meditation, Juugo slept and Sakura read--looking up everyone once in a while to glare at something beside her that Sasuke couldn't see even with Sharingan-red eyes--Karin fidgeted in a way that he found completely annoying. Suigetsu cleaned his sword, slurped water, and then finally sat there glaring at Sakura.

After a moment she glanced up at him, marking her place and closing her book. "Yes?" She said impatiently.

"Did you really kill him?" He asked. He jerked his head towards Itachi. "_He _says that you did, but I don't believe it. How could someone like you kill Kisame?"

"The same way you kill anyone," Sakura said simply. "You beat him until his heart stops. Right?"

"So did you?"

"There's not much point in hunting Akatsuki if you decide to let one run free," she said, and shrugged. "So yes. I killed him. Some fish you have to let go to get the one you really want, but there was no benefit in me sparing him. He was too dangerous to leave."

"I can't picture it," he said, looking at her very closely. "How'd you do it?"

She simply looked at him for a long moment, and sighed. "Why? It's not as though you actually care, right? What do you really want to ask?"

"He's interested in the sword," Itachi answered for him.

Sakura looked at him sharply, both eyebrows raised in surprise. She looked at him for a long moment, and then turned her gaze back to Suigetsu.

"Why?" She said again, after an equally long moment. But then she looked away almost dismissively. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Give me a minute to think. And a map."

"Would you be able to find it on a map?" Itachi asked with interest as Suigetsu immediately went to fetch his own. Sakura opened her bag yet again to stick her book back inside of it, taking the time to make certain that everything was in its proper place.

"I'm certainly not going into Earth Country to look for it, if that's what you're asking," she said. She closed her bag up tight, not looking up from the knots that she tied with swift fingers. "That place is built on blood, and I'm not going back into it if I can help it."

"Fire Country was built on that same bloodshed," Itachi reminded her.

"But Fire Country is _natural_," Sakura protested, looking at him directly for the first time. "The blood spilled nourishes and strengthens the trees that hide and protect us. It gives life. Earth Country is _wrong_. It kills everything. It only knows how to kill; how to destroy. If this land grows a single thing naturally, ten to one, it will be poisoned. Whatever eats it will spread disease. Death, and death again."

Suigetsu had brought the maps. He laid them out next to her and Sakura abandoned her bags without a care as she helped him lay several of them out. Almost the entire floor of the shelter was covered in map by the time they were done.

Not so they'd notice. Sakura and Suigetsu both crawled over the maps as though it was the finest carpet, matching lines from one map to the next so that they had the entire picture.

Sasuke didn't know why they had laid out the entire Five Countries when they were only going to look at the one for Earth Country. He didn't say anything.

It was a relief to know that this was _one_ part of Sakura that hadn't changed over the years. Her desire to know _everything_ had become a passion for maps and books of all kinds, and it was something he'd never been able to match. He'd been the warrior, she'd been the scholar and Naruto--he was the wild card. He would get them out of trouble just as often as he got them _into_ it.

Sasuke felt a second of vertigo, as though the world had just cut him loose of its gravity. _Naruto_.

For him to be dead, that was impossible. Inconceivable. He was just _Naruto_. A complete loser, a complete idiot--the world protected idiots. But it wouldn't be able to protect him forever.

Who _would_ protect him? Kakashi? What chance did _he_ have against Akatsuki?

In his blood, suddenly ice-cold, Sasuke could only come up with one conclusion. The only one who was coming after Naruto was Sakura. Just her.

She was hunting Akatsuki, she'd said. All of them. Their numbers dwindled rapidly, in evidence of her willpower. She wouldn't lose.

_But would it help Naruto_?

Suddenly the walls felt too close.

He was horrified to realize that his eyes had focused on Sakura in his dilemma, and he was looking at her like _she_ would have all of the answers. She had built his world and taken it down hundreds of times already, from the first time he'd met her. Just by being Sakura.

Just by being _Sakura_.

You'd think, after all this time, that she'd have lost the power to hurt him.

"His body's being sent back to Kirigakure, of course," Sakura said as her finger rested on the map, hovering just over Water Country. "It's perfectly preserved. The sword will be with the body. If Tokiwa is honest, and I doubt it, the most likely path will be here." She trailed a finger from Earth Country down. "Or possibly here." A less direct route, skirting around Fire Country.

"You went a long way for someone you don't trust." Sasuke looked up to notice that it was his brother speaking, and his eyes narrowed.

"I have a responsibility to the Suzuki clan," she said. "Tokiwa is necessary to them. I don't have to like it to do my job. In any case, I make a point to have several backup plans intact to cover up any mistakes. Such as," she tapped a finger to the map again, this time at the North-Western edge of Earth Country, as far from Mist as possible. "This is where you'll find both body and sword. There's a small village here, a fishing village with a ferry that runs only at night.

"The ferry is called Raicho, and the ferryman's name is Kitagawa. Kitagawa is very easy to recognize. He's short and stocky, very muscular, as you'd expect. Low forehead, high cheekbones. Ruddy skin. Short, curly black hair. He has a beard and moustache, both kept very neat."

Trust Sakura, he thought. She could always be counted on to remember a person exactly, to file that person away in her head for future reference.

"Raichou," Karin said thoughtfully. "That's a strange name. _Arrival_."

Sakura laughed quietly in response, not looking away from the map. Karin immediately bristled and, sensing that, Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "Sorry, I was just thinking that you and Sasuke-kun were perfectly suited. Do you really think that _I_ would know so much about a person if his business was so innocent as that?" She lifted one shoulder. "I was sent to investigate him, of course. The ferry's true name is _Raijin Cho_--The Lightning God's Butterfly."

Sasuke felt his eyebrows raise, and noticed that the reaction was echoed on his brother's face. "An alliance between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth. I haven't heard of that."

"Don't be naive," Sakura said. "An _interest_, not an alliance. Spying is, by far, the oldest and noblest shinobi tradition."

"And this Kitagawa will know where the body is?" Suigetsu interrupted.

"Who knows?" Sakura returned, turning her attention back to the map with the slightest of shrugs. "All I know is that Kitagawa is Tokiwa's dog. Or that's what Tokiwa wants to believe. That's why he allows him to get away with a few minor indiscretions. He's wrong, of course."

"Of course," Itachi agreed. Sasuke looked at him again and was surprised--and slightly annoyed--to see a smile on his brother's face.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What sort of indiscretions?"

She smiled. "Anything short of murder, usually." She caught his expression and shrugged. "He likes children. Congratulations, you should blend right in." She laughed as she slapped Suigetsu's shoulder lightly, rocking back on her heels to stand away from the line of maps. She had to walk almost completely on her toes to get away from them, taking steps that should have been too long for her short legs backwards, and he was almost impressed that she was able to get to the edge of the room without staining the mess of maps.

His stomach clenched as he caught the meaning behind her sentence. Sakura had always been small and, even now, she wasn't particularly well endowed. It would be all too easy for her to look like a child. And she looked just exotic enough, with that pink hair, to draw his attention.

"Sakura," he said again. "What did you _do_?"

She met his gaze, weighing how much he really wanted an answer before she looked away. "It's safer if you don't know the details," she finally said. "Even if it wasn't, we don't have time to catch up. And before you let your overactive imagination take hold, it probably wasn't anything like that."

He aimed a flat glare at her. "I wasn't thinking anything," he said defensively.

"_Not_ thinking is worse. It implies that you've already come to a conclusion," she made a face that, for a second, brought him back in time. It was a look she'd reserved almost especially for Naruto. Right before she ended up punching him. "Thanks a lot, Sasuke-kun. Glad you have such a high opinion of me."

"Not to intrude," Itachi interrupted, his quiet voice cutting through Sasuke's denial before it could even sound. "But how do you plan on confronting Pein?"

"Violently." She began rifling through her bag again, pulling out cooking ingredients with tense, shaking fingers.

Sasuke gave a sigh of disgust. "If you're tired, sleep."

"Not that easy," she said, and spilled rice into a pot. "We don't have that much time."

There was a split second of disorientation as he watched her, and then he got it. If there wasn't much time, it was still possible for Sakura to eat the rice balls that she'd already made. She hadn't opened the case she stored them in once since they were constructed.

Judging from that, it meant that the ones she was making now served a different purpose.

The clue here was _time_.

"Sakura," he said. Just that--just her name. And she turned to look at him, the same way she always did. Back when he thought that he could read all of her thoughts with a glance. Perfectly in synch. (That was why he left.) "What are you doing?"

"They can't come," she said. When he continued to look at her, she lowered her gaze, opening a bottle with a swift, efficient flick of her wrist. "There are _reasons_, Sasuke. Important ones. The short one is that I work best _alone_. Companions carry a weight, a distraction, that you can't afford out there in the real world. If you think that what happened an _hour_ ago was an aberration, you're gravely mistaken. I have worked with people who wanted to kill me _so many times_. When I'm taking care of Pein, I won't have the time to be thinking, _What's going to happen if someone tries to stab me in the back_?"

Her green eyes were cold and flat, only the barest resemblance to how beautiful they used to be. In his dreams, he used to believe that there was a light shining out of them, identical to the light that shone out of Naruto. She was a symbol of everything that was pure and kind, and he was...

In the end, he'd been completely fooled.

Sakura lit the flame with the ease of long practice, seeming to pay no attention whatsoever to the fact that she lit it on the very floor of their soggy, wooden shelter. The flames rose quickly, giving off a steady, even heat, and didn't seem to suffer from the soggy material any more than it attempted to burn outside the neat circle Sakura had drawn.

As always, he was stuck somewhere between admiration and annoyance, jealousy. Someone like Sakura, how could he not acknowledge her?

"I'll say this again," she said as she poured the water into the pot. She stirred with a metal spoon that she suddenly pointed at Itachi, sending several drops of water flying. "Kill your brother, and come home. Save Naruto with me. Let's protect him together. After all, he's going to be Hokage one day."

"Didn't you already tell me that if I return to Konoha, I'll immediately be imprisoned?"

Suddenly, she grinned. "Naruto will protect you."

"It's not that easy," Itachi argued, breaking into their discussion with his quiet, perfectly reasonable voice. It was like a streak of darkness tearing through memories of noon. "If the Hokage was the only thing you had to worry about, it would be fine. But there are still the village elders to consider."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Of course, there are those who are suspicious of the Uchiha clan. But I'm not as simple as that." She leaned back and continued to gesture with the spoon. "Then, and even now, Konoha has been in a power struggle between opposing factions, with the Hokage caught in the middle. It's much the same in any village. _But_. I did a little bit of research, and almost all of the elders involved with your little story are either dead or discredited. Very mysterious. So I did a little _more _research, a little surveillance, and there it was--the monster's head."

"So you killed him."

This time she shook her head. "I didn't. That wouldn't accomplish anything. All that would do is prompt his followers to move, and I'd be on the run, if they didn't kill me first." She shook her head again, slowly. "No. Instead, I put together a neat little file, and gave it to someone whose name will _never_ be attached to mine. The coup d'etat will be able to launch almost instantaneously. Tiny ripples that rise in power, coming from every direction. Of course, they'll know who did it--I'll make sure of that.

"He'll find himself in prison--if someone doesn't kill him first," she continued, and dipped the spoon into the pot to stir the rice before it burned to the bottom. "It's possible that he'll never enjoy the hospitality there. But if he does, I don't doubt at all that he'll quickly use his connections to get himself away, to plot his own coup d'etat. At that point he will have already played into my hands. He won't be able to reach his allies in Konoha--I've already made sure of that. His only hope would take him to outside; mercenaries or, if we're lucky, he'll have a solid, _official_ connection to other villages. I'll have him on conspiracy, forgery, theft, murder. Wherever he runs, I'll find him. It's already in place."

"If he was that involved, Konoha will be in a state of political uproar," Itachi pointed out. "It will be impossible to predict the outcome."

"It's the perfect setup," she countered. There was an almost glazed look in her eyes, as though she could barely see what was in front of her. It wasn't entirely sane.

"Sakura," he said, and it was like someone had flicked a switch. Her eyes were green again, lucid, intelligent, and looking at him. And now that she was, he didn't know what he was supposed to say. He finally settled for, "In this future. Where are you?"

There was a moment of silence as she lifted the pot away from the heat, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Well," she said finally. "I'm not sure. At first, in the idealized vision, I was doing what I always do. Working at the hospital. Assisting on missions. A few covert ops; business as usual. But, see, I'm on the run now, so--at the very least, I have to stay out of sight. A hand reaching out from the shadows. Something like that."

His eyes narrowed. "And you don't think I'm capable of that."

"Honestly? A slow-witted toddler could track you. You aren't very good at staying out of sight. Your only advantage is speed, and that you're usually traveling with someone who knows how to cover tracks and lay false trails."

He opened his mouth as if to argue, but she clearly wasn't finished. And yeah, she was only the second--possibly third, or maybe fourth--loudest person he knew, so she kept his mouth shut and let her talk.

"Your strategy has never been lying low and hidden, or changing your identity and becoming another face in the crowd. At best, your location is always a completely _public _secret--approach at your own risk." And now she was looking at him, using her eyes to underline this message. "Naruto doesn't need that. Whether or not he ever makes Hokage, and he _will_ become Hokage, he needs you right there, watching his back, or even completely stealing the show, the way you _always_ do.

"Nobody can complain about you coming home, being a part of that, because everyone who won't want you there is suddenly going to be under investigation. And the other half? Their children are the ones who were part of the _Sasuke Retrieval Team_. And Naruto did it," she said. "Okay? He _did_. He won them over. So unlike my mother, you probably aren't going to be locked in a building every day of your life, putting up blinds and curtains because there are windows _everywhere_, and you just want five minutes of privacy without looking ANBU in the eye. Not talking more than you have to, because they can read your lips, and you know that they're just waiting for you to say something other than _pass me the soy sauce_ so that they can come in and kill you and your three-year-old _daughter_, because it's just a completely _lousy _assignment."

And he flinched, because the imagery there just killed him. He suddenly had a vivid picture of him telling her how lucky she was to even _have_ parents, and it was true, but he hadn't know anything about this, about her. And yes, he'd known she was something of a drama queen back then.

But if even half of his were true, not just an over dramatized version of the truth? He'd been more than out of line.

So he cleared his throat, and he looked at her. "I still haven't said that I was going with you," he reminded her. "Or even going back."

"You'll figure that out on your own," she said, suddenly paying more attention than she necessarily needed to in shaping the rice into neat triangles. "You always do."

Sasuke nodded slowly in agreement. But he thought that it was easier, much easier, when he only had himself to consider.

* * *

It didn't take Suigetsu long at all to restart his conversation with Sakura once his maps were put away, except for the main one, the one he'd need. He was making his plans out loud--entirely on purpose, Sasuke could tell--and she would argue with him good-naturedly as she ate. There was the faintest hint of a grimace on the side of her face, and he thought that might have something to do with the strong spices she'd put into the rice ball.

An identical grimace was on his brother's face as he ate the one she'd practically forced into his hand, and Sasuke wondered if the chakra recovery was really worth the taste. She'd clearly told him that the chakra boost was also a kind of adrenaline boost that made a person capable of going without sleep for long periods of time, on top of everything else.

But he had a really good picture of Gaara in his head, so he knew how crazy going without sleep tended to make a person. It had been something that she'd pointed out to him, in detail, whenever Sasuke got too crazy.

Sakura had always, always, made sure she got her full six hours sleep a night, no matter where they were--with the exception of Earth Country, where she maybe caught ten minutes at a time, and he'd barely slept any better than she had because the second he closed his eyes she was in the beginning of a nightmare. After the third, he'd been more than prepared to smother her, and she'd finally given up just sat hunched over in front of the fire, across from Kakashi, both hands over her ears to block out screams that he couldn't even hear.

It was something that he wanted to ask Kakashi, wanted _Naruto_ to ask Kakashi so that they wouldn't think that he, especially, cared, but the idiot didn't even _notice_ it and Kakashi didn't say anything. Eventually, he'd just shrugged it off as another of his teammates' eccentricities, but the mystery of it still bothered him.

Of course, the only way he'd _really_ know was if he asked. And he wouldn't.

Karin was glaring at him now with a kind of pout, a look that she was almost famous for. It usually preluded her using some method to attempt to sexually harass him, such as the full-body tackle that ended with her sprawled across his lap. And her chest really wasn't that large at all, but when it was pressed this close to him, it was kind of hard to not be aware of it--or her staring at his mouth with rapt attention.

It was an awkward as hell position to be in, as her arms wrapped around his back, hands memorizing the flesh and bone there through the fabric of his shirt, so that he couldn't fight her off without threatening to break her neck.

Which was a thought far more tempting than it had any right to be.

He met her gaze, knowing that she had questions. Suigetsu was more than willing to go with the flow, so long as it got him what he wanted, and Juugo didn't care as long as Sasuke kept him in check. But girls, he'd noticed, were almost always more talkative.

"What now?" She asked. And he almost sighed, because how the hell did he know? He was still trying to figure that out. "Are we really just going to march on the Akatsuki fortress and..."

"Don't worry," he said, because this part he did know. "You aren't."

"Then...what?" She said. "Are we going to go with Suigetsu to find that stupid little boat so that he can have _another_ dumb sword?"

And the money that went with it. Sasuke didn't doubt that their esteemed companion was going to help himself to Sakura's bounty money, and well she knew it. Assuming that she thought she'd get a cut of it in the first place. Which she doubted.

In fact, she probably still considered it a win because the money wasn't going to find itself in Tokiwa's hands.

"We already said that once I found my brother, our alliance would end there," Sasuke reminded her. "You can do whatever you want."

"That's fine for that idiot," Karin said. "But I want to stay with you. And you know that Juugo can't be on his own without eventually losing it and killing somebody. You promised him that it wouldn't happen, but how do you plan to keep that promise if we all go separate ways?"

Yeah, that was something that Sakura had forgotten to take into account.

"Easily," Sakura answered for him. Karin hadn't made any attempt whatsoever to keep them from being overheard, and yeah--their shelter was the size of a shoebox. An abnormally large shoe box, just long enough for Juugo to lay flat, but it wasn't hard by any stretch of the imagination for anyone to listen in, if they so chose.

"You forget," she said. "I have my mother's notebook. She had a theory that she occasionally put into practice--she spent her life, both before and after coming to Konoha, studying the workings of the human brain. And she has about a _million_ jutsus that I'm never going to even begin to _start_ learning. Mainly because I don't want to risk friends, and I tend to prefer a more straightforward method of eliminating enemies. However, if you're right? And he really wants to fix this problem of his? I think that I can help. There's no guarantee that it will be successful. _But_."

"I got it," he said, and looked at Karin like, _See_? It was a plan, and if it succeeded, it solved one of his problems. "You should talk to him about it first."

"I was planning on it," she said. "The brain has a lot of stuff going on inside of it, and I'm going to need to get inside so, yes, him being unconscious is only going to make it harder to put the barriers in place."

And he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. But what the hell. It wasn't his brain she was going to be playing with.

"And what am _I_ going to do?" Karin demanded because she knew that, like Juugo, Sakura was going to figure out some way to take her out of the mix.

"I don't especially care," she returned without the slightest change of expression. Her smile was still just as friendly, but her eyes were completely cold and flat. "You can stay or leave on your own, or I can break your legs. Or if you get too stubborn and try to follow anyway, I can send a current through your brain and leave you for the dogs."

"Sakura," he said flatly, and she looked at him.

"It's her decision," she said with a shrug. "I don't know any of her abilities, but I do know that she's one of those people who would stab me in the back at the least opportunity. She is _not _welcome on this expedition. Afterward, if you want to look for her? That's fine. I don't care. We can meet back up here in three days, and she can come with us to Konoha. But you know as well as I do that unless she talks real nice to Naruto, and somehow wins him over completely? Or maybe convinces him that she's his long-lost sister? She isn't going to have a place there."

"Three days?" Karin demanded, a suspicious look in her eyes.

Sakura nodded. "Three days. Long enough to get there and get back with Naruto."

"You swear that you'll come back," Karin continued. She flashed a glance at Sasuke before looking away. "You know that if you aren't there, I'll find you."

"Three days," he said. "I'll be here."

"Deal?" Sakura prompted, and held out a hand.

Karin took it before he could tell her not to. But unlike he'd expected, she didn't suddenly collapse, and her arm didn't melt off. There was no outward change at all. And his eyes shone Sharingan red. "Deal."

Sakura slapped her hands together, as though attempting to beat the dust and dirt off of them, already turning her head to look at Juugo, who had yet to stir. "Well," she said. "I guess there's only one thing left to do before we're off. And I'm saying this because I know you'll be watching, Sasuke, but attempting to copy this jutsu is very dangerous. If you attempt it, and get it partially right, chances are whoever you use it on will bleed in his brain and die a very slow, very painful death. If you fail, he'll die almost instantly, because you just turned his brain into soup."

"And you?" He asked.

"Well, it'd be nice if I got it right," she said. She touched her fingers to Juugo's forehead, and his eyes opened almost instantly. She smiled. "Good morning. You woke up. I was wondering if you still wanted someone to fix your brain."

Sasuke choked on his own spit. And from the sound of things, he wasn't the only one. That was just _kind of_ abrupt.

"Your friends told me that you don't really have much control over these sudden, sort of _random_ murderous urges that you seem to get, supposedly from your ability to alter your form at will," she continued, her voice calm, quiet and reasonable, her expression completely sincere. The sound of her voice actually seemed to calm Juugo down, and he had to wonder how, exactly, she managed to do that. "And it's entirely possible that something happened to you when you were younger, possibly even in utero, that severely impacted your mental blocks. And you see, my mother developed this jutsu, even before I was born, to take care of these kinds of problems. I can show you the research on it if you want. I haven't tried it personally, myself--well, nothing more than the basics, and I wasn't particularly careful then. _But_. I think I can do it, and if it succeeds I _know_ it will help you."

There was a pause as he registered the offer, and then Juugo glanced at him. And Sasuke didn't know whether to be surprised or not, because it was entirely in character, but if you added Sakura to the equation, there was no telling.

Slowly, he nodded.

Sakura's eyes flicked from him back to Juugo before she opened the journal again, taking one last look at the words and images printed on the page. Then she turned her body to face Juugo more completely, sitting on her heels.

"This is going to require a lot of my concentration," she said out loud, addressing the room as a whole. "So if anyone tries to stop me, at all, ever, I will treat it as an open attack and _I will kill you_. No matter who you are, get me? And also," this time she was talking directly to Juugo. "I'm sorry, but this is probably going to really, _really_ hurt."

Sasuke watched as she lifted her hand to Juugo's forehead, and time stopped.

* * *

**Note**: Wow. _That_ certainly took me a long time to write. I'd tell you what happened, but I haven't the foggiest. I wrote steadily for three days after the last chapter, got them into the shelter, showed off Sakura's knife--which she calls a blood knife, and makes a larger appearance in a different Naruto fanfic I have yet to write. FYI, it's also the fic that Kuriko and Matsu appear and have a larger role in (and for those of you reading _Boys and Girls_, yes, Aki is there, too).

But around the time they finished talking jutsus, I got distracted doing something or another. It's entirely possible that this was about the time Script Frenzy ate my soul. I got so used to writing scripts that I had writer's block for a month and a half--as if getting the _Sims 3_ wasn't distraction enough.

And on top of _that_ mess, I seem to keep getting more and more depressed after every new issue of Naruto. I need to get myself a checklist started, because it is just _killing _my plot twists. I could live with being totally off the mark, but do I have to be _right_ all the time? I mean, just look at Shisui's curly hair and cat eyes! And we're not even going into the rest of it.

If any ghosts start appearing, I will scream, because that means that Kishimoto-sensei and I share a brain. Seriously.

In any case, thank you to **Takara Makoto**, **Hiei's Cute Girl**, **Fonrin**, **midnight000shadow**, **dark Alley**, **Hao'sAnjul**, **utoi**, **rebellious-and-ditzy-bookworm**, **Hesunohana**, **Hypnotized Angel** and **the general girl **for reviewing. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, because I want to at least be _halfway_ finished with this story by the start of next year. (I knew a twenty-chapter story was going to be hard, but I didn't expect it to take two--soon to be three--years.)

And that's 7300 words. Next up is Sakura. And maybe some actual ItaSaku...seriously, this Sakura plays her cards way too close to her chest these days.


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